Challenge Accepted!

At the behest of one Magicman, I give you my favorite movies from A-Z, with honorable mentions in parentheses. I tried to cap it at about five or six for some letters, as I could have gone on for days with some of them. It was a tough battle to see what letter won the overall competition. B, G, and S all brought some serious ammo to the table, but I would lean towards G. All five movies I listed are homeruns, with GWH, Gladiator, and the Godfather all cracking my top ten. Let me know what you think, or any good ones I forgot. (Anybody have anything better for Y? I struggled there.)

Almost Famous (American Beauty, About a Boy)
Braveheart (Back to the Future I-III, Billy Madison, Blow, Bourne 1-3, Batman Begins and TDK)
Crash (Casino Royale, Cold Mountain, Charlie Bartlett)
Dan in Real Life (Dumb and Dumber, Dances With Wolves)
Enemy at the Gates (Entrapment)
Field of Dreams (Fight Club, Fever Pitch, Friday Night Lights, Forrest Gump)
Good Will Hunting (Gladiator, Gangs of New York, The Green Mile, The Godfather)
Hitch (Happy Gilmore, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days)
Inside Man (Indiana Jones, The Italian Job, Into the Blue)
Juno (John Tucker Must Die, Jurassic Park)
Kingdom, the (Kingdom of Heaven)
Love Actually (Lucky Number Slevin)
Meet Joe Black (Mean Girls)
Notting Hill (Napoleon Dynamite)
Old School (Ocean’s 11, Office Space, O)
Pianist, the (Pearl Harbor, The Prestige, The Patriot)
Quantum of Solace (pretty sure it will be on here)
Road to Perdition (Rocky 4, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Rudy)
Sandlot (Stranger Than Fiction, Swingers, She’s the Man, Shawshank Redemption, Saving Private Ryan)
Training Day (Tommy Boy, Thirteen Days, 21, 3:10 to Yuma, 300, Troy)
Usual Suspects, the
Vanilla Sky
Wedding Crashers (Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, What Women Want)
X-Men
You’ve got Mail (You Me and Dupree)
Zoolander

A New Frontier

I think that we all yearn to be inspired. I truly believe that somewhere deep within our jaded hearts, there exists a part of each of us that desires to be awakened by one who can lead; by someone who has the makeup to inspire even those who don’t necessarily agree with his particular point of view. I don’t know if Barack Obama is this man. But I think he could be.

I’ve been reading a few books about President Kennedy recently. In 1960, this brash, young senator from Massachusetts earned the Democratic nomination for president despite being a relative newcomer to politics. A congressman by 29 and a senator by 35, this man was embarking down paths generally reserved for older, “wiser”, more experienced politicians. Standing in his way were two predominant obstacles: Catholicism and what appeared to be a stodgy, old, career politician who if not for television’s unfriendly eye, would have been our 35th president instead of our 37th. The fact that Richard Nixon was only four years older than Kennedy mattered little, as they were worlds apart when it came to public perception.

You have to admit that the similarities are striking. Now, in no way do I mean to disparage President Nixon by comparing him to John McCain. Whatever moral ineptitudes Nixon developed late in his presidency, by most accounts he was a talented and good hearted, albeit misguided politician who deserved better than the singular memory he occupies in the eyes of most Americans. McCain is a turd.

Kennedy had many advantages in life. He was born rich and lived with every comfort that could be offered to America’s aristocracy. It cannot be ignored that his father pulled many strings for him, and without his influence, likely never would have pursued a political career. But to limit his success to wealth and connections does a great disservice to the man.

From his inaugural address:

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty…
So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us…
All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin…
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

JFK was by no means perfect, but one thing he mastered was the ability to inspire. It is so sad to me that we so rarely have presidents we believe in. Listening to Obama speak to the country has been an electrifying experience for me. He seems to have that special power that is only given to a few select members of each generation. His words inspire and unite. “This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected.” Does anybody think John McCain has the potential to be remembered alongside Lincoln, Kennedy, Churchill and others? Please.

I am very conservative when it comes to politics. I’ve voted republican in both elections that I’ve been old enough to participate in. Senator Obama might in fact be too young and inexperienced. He might be too liberal for my taste. I don’t necessarily want government subsidized health care, although I don’t think it will signal the onslaught of Armageddon like many republicans. I don’t support gay marriage. Then why Obama?

I see in Obama a quality of leadership that we have been severely lacking. It has been far too long since we had someone in the Whitehouse that could inspire. He has made me, a cynic, want to believe. I think that’s half the battle; to break people out of the apathetic rut and get them to want to make their country better. This is where JFK excelled. He spoke of a new frontier, and encouraged Americans by telling them, “We can be better.” I hear that same message today, but it isn’t coming from my Republican side of the ticket. “The change we seek has always required great struggle and great sacrifice. And so this is a battle in our own hearts and minds about what kind of country we want and how hard we're willing to work for it. So let me remind you tonight that change will not be easy. Change will take time. There will be setbacks and false starts and sometimes we'll make mistakes. But as hard as it may seem, we cannot lose hope, because there are people all across this great nation who are counting on us.”

More famously, Senator Obama has exclaimed, “Where we are met with cynicism and doubt and fear and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the American people in three simple words -- yes, we can.”

I think he might be right. If nothing else, I want to believe.

The Time Has Come Today

As Election Day draws near, we find ourselves being bombarded with political advertisements. One can hardly pick up a paper, or turn on the TV without seeing evidence of the heated presidential race, not to mention all of the other hotly contested issues ready to hit the ballot in November. These circumstances bring to mind wise counsel from former LDS church president Gordon B. Hinckley.

“Legal restraints against deviant moral behavior are eroding under legislative enactments and court opinions. This is done in the name of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of choice in so-called personal matters. But the bitter fruit of these so-called freedoms has been enslavement to debauching habits and behavior that leads only to destruction. A prophet, speaking long ago, aptly described the process when he said, “And thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.” (2 Nephi 28:21)
On the other hand, . . . I am one who believes that the situation is far from hopeless. I am satisfied that there is no need to stand still and let the filth and violence overwhelm us, or to run in despair. The tide, high and menacing as it is, can be turned back if enough of the kind I have mentioned will add their strength to the strength of the few who are now effectively working. I believe the challenge to oppose this evil is one from which members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and citizens, cannot shrink.” (1975)

For those who might not be aware, there is a Proposition on the ballot of California that is aimed at protecting the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman. For more information on this critical piece of proposed legislation, visit www.preservingmarriage.org. Supporting Proposition 8 is the specific type of activity that needs to be done in order to fight back this “tide.”

It can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the political process. Many feel that there is no point in caring, because their vote doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. What difference can one person make?

In a speech given to students at Yale in 1962, President John F. Kennedy shed light on this dangerous train of thought. “The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.” The hopelessness that often spawns apathy is just that—a myth. We have been persuaded for so long that dreaming of making a difference is childish and naïve. But change is possible. Positive change is not only possible, but it is within reach of everyone with a voice. We all have the power to influence those around us. We all have the ability to make our voice heard. Now more than ever, we can let others know what we stand for and how we feel about the direction our country is headed. “Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed. Consequently he who molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. He makes statutes and decisions possible or impossible to be executed.” (Abraham Lincoln) We can use every medium that is at our disposal. Blog. Chat. Talk with friends. Write your local paper’s editorial section. Do whatever it is you can to make your voice heard. If nothing else, we can help to shape public sentiment, and by doing so we exert as much or more influence than the lawmakers themselves.

Shakespeare once said, “They do not love, that do not show their love.” I think this also applies to the love of country. Those who wish to show their gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy need to act. Apathy is not an option. Educate yourself. Find out what it is that matters most to you and do something about it. President Hinckley stated, “It is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world and the world must be a better place for your presence.” Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Now is when your country needs you. Now is the time to act. I close with the inspiring words of Winston Churchill, who saw Britain through its darkest hours. “To every man there comes that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to him and fitted to his talent. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour.”

Eat your heart out Bon Jovi

There aren’t many times in your life where you get to play the hero. This was one of those few, shining moments. Let’s ignore the fact that this is division two, intramural, coed softball. That’s not what’s important. What’s important is this: with two batters left to go, we are down by three runs. Elimination is at stake. This was is for all the marbles.

Enter Chelsea Mazar. With ice water in her veins, she coolly steps to the plate knowing that for us to win, she cannot make an out. Like a seasoned combat veteran, nothing could faze her. With the team counting on her for its every breath, she heroically lined a single into center, plating two runs and bringing us within one. And so the plot thickens.

With Chelsea on first base, up I walk to the plate knowing that she has to score for us to tie, and my run equals victory. With the left side of the outfield playing just shy of Riverwoods, it would take a laser guided missile to get it over their heads. With right field virtually open, I take my shot. Swinging at a pitch that should have been ignored like a door to door salesman, I lined the ball to right. As soon as I hit it, I knew we had lost. The other team’s right fielder stood poised to catch the liner and end our season. But this is why they play the games. Whether it was the sun, nerves, fate smiling upon us, or the fact that the right fielder just sucked, the ball caromed off the glove and it was as if we had received a last second pardon from the governor.

I raced around first, exhorting Chelsea with all the breath I could muster that she needed to score. As she rounded the bag at third, the ball flew into the infield. It was one of those beautiful moments where you are calculating the distance of the runner from the plate, the fielder from the runner, and determining what is to happen as the play unfolds before your eyes. It appeared to me, the exhausted runner between second and third, that she was going to come up just short.

With the flip of the ball from the cutoff man to the catcher, our season would come up ten feet short. But the throw never came. Instead, the relay man decides that a throw to the female catcher is too risky. He decides that he can run to the plate and tag Chelsea before her foot touches safety. He gambled, and he lost. Both players arrived at the same instant, and in a cloud of dust, I could see the outstretched arms of the umpire signaling that we had just tied the game.

The other team was furious. The fielder thought he had her. His outrage transforms him instantly from softball player to irate defense attorney. As he argued his team’s case, I realized that he had forgotten all about me. If I could sneak in amidst the fracas, we steal a win that should not have been ours. I go for it. Halfway home I’m praying that this guy is too caught up in his argument inches from home plate to see me coming. Thankfully, he realizes what is happening too late, and the look of shock on his face as I slide safely across home is priceless. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Against all odds, we’re still alive and well. Just living on a prayer.

Change We Can Believe In

I hate making decisions. Not only do I hate making them, but when I do, I make bad decisions. This is a problem for many reasons, the most important of which being that it seems like there are so many decisions that I need to be making these days: where to live, who to live with, what to do with my life, what to do short term, what to do long term, when to make my move on Janna, where to go to grad school, what to study, etc. Potentially, there is a whole platter of decisions that I can spill all over the proverbial customer’s lap.

I was watching a classic episode of Friends about a week ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. In the episode, Rachel tries to counter the fact that she makes terrible decisions by appointing Monica to make all of her decisions for her. This also corresponds with a great episode of Seinfeld. Hapless George has an epiphany where he realizes that every decision he has ever made has been wrong. He takes a different approach to the issue, and decides that all of his instincts are wrong, and that by doing the opposite of what he would normally do, he would effectively neutralize his bad judgment. This promptly lands him a beautiful woman and a front office job with the New York Yankees.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m ready to learn from the popular culture I have enjoyed for so long. No longer will I make all my decisions based on the sound advice of Oprah and those chatty women from the view. From here on out, I am taking a page out of the Book of Rachel and the Words of Costanza. Here’s what’s going to happen: I will be fielding open suggestions from anyone who has ideas on how I should proceed with my future. Fear not. No idea is too simple and no suggestion can be too ridiculous. Feel free to give short term as well as long term advice. I am willing to listen to anyone, as long as the idea does not originate in my head.

Now here is the tricky part. I have to decide which advice to take. This is where George comes in. Not only am I trying to avoid ever making another decision, a la Rachel Green, but on those rare occasions where a decision must be left to me, I will have to be ready to do the exact opposite of what would appear to be the correct choice. Difficult? Yes. But I’m committed to change. Just call me Barrack.

I need your help people. Me being in charge of my own life has been an utter disaster. With your help, I can make the progress that will lead me into the next phase of my life. Vote for change in ’08. Vote for my future.

Yes we can. Yes we can.

The Heart of Life

Life is good. I don’t know if I express that enough, but I want to state this emphatically: life is good.

Don’t get me wrong. Life is hard. Sometimes pain throws your hope to the ground. One of my friends just had his heart broken a few weeks ago. At times like that, it’s easy to think that things will never be good again, and that all innocence in life is lost. It was this very same pining and sense of loss that led Paul Simon to pen, “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio. A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” He was longing for a time when things were simple and beautiful, and he turned to his father’s baseball icon, a man that had retired 16 years earlier. There have been many times that I’ve found myself yearning for the peace and serenity of the past. It is so easy to live in the past and plot out the perfect way things should have happened. But dealing with pain in the present is the only way to look forward to a bright future.

We all experience pain. Nobody escapes its path. But that is not what brings us together. What brings us together as one is our goal: everyone is just looking for love. Love heals all wounds. Love gives us hope. Love turns the whole thing around. It is impossible to experience love without feeling that there is a purpose to this life. No it won’t all go the way it should, but I know the heart of life is good.

At times, this must be our mantra. If you say it enough, it becomes impossible to forget. Life is good. What about those times when you think you can’t go on? Especially then. Say it. Chant it. Believe it. These are the times when we need to be the strongest, because believe me; bad news never had good timing.

It’s important to have great friends. I can’t imagine going through life without close friends to share it with. It would all be so meaningless. I love my friends. They’ve been with me through the best and worst times of my life, and that is what matters. Great friends foster hope, and help us remember everything that we love about life. Even if everything else is crashing down, the circle of your friends will defend the silver lining. They help us see the good that is there, but possibly hiding at the moment.

I’m terrified of the future. I don’t know what it holds. But life is good, and that keeps me going. After all, fear is a friend who’s misunderstood. It’s a wonderful motivator. I’ve never prepared harder than the times that I was the most afraid to fail. I’ve never worked harder than those moments when I knew there was someone that I couldn’t let down. You just can’t let the fear overcome you. Trust that things will work out, and then work to make sure they do. Believe in people. Don’t be afraid of the unknown.

And know that the heart of life is good.

The Emporers New Clothes

I think a great way to disarm people is by using self deprecating humor. I really enjoy this technique and those who practice it. I’m not exactly sure why this is, but I’ve got a few theories. First, I can’t stand people who take themselves too seriously. It has always rubbed me the wrong way. If the only reason someone thinks you are smart, important, or great in any way is that you tell them, something is wrong. I’ve absolutely loved my time at BYU, but if I had one complaint, it would be the ridiculous desire and need many feel to self promote, especially with the opposite sex. I guess I would call this the Marriott School mentality. Guys know what girls want to hear, and many forgo humility in an attempt to build themselves up into the image that most girls are looking for. You would think that this would be so easy to see through that it wouldn’t work. You would be wrong. And in the world of only having 1-3 dates to convince someone you are worth spending time with, this often means that the self promoting toolsheds of the world are often successful in this regard.

The second reason is that I’ve always thought people couldn’t make fun of you, or talk trash you behind your back as long as you were up front and honest about your shortcomings. Have you ever seen 8 mile? At the end of the movie, Eminem realizes that the other guy he is battle rapping against has a myriad of bullets to use against him in their verbal duel. So what does he do? He cuts him off before he can even get started. He throws all of those things about himself that might be embarrassing out in the open right away, and the other guy gets up and realizes that it would be lame to use any of those things now, so he quits and Eminem is victorious. I think I actually started doing this in middle school. Now, I fully admit that this can be done to unhealthy levels, but when kept in moderation, it is a wonderfully disarming characteristic.

The problem with using this as a defense mechanism, especially in a BYU/Utah culture where self promotion is often the rule, is that people have to be open minded in order make accurate judgments about your character. If someone is expecting Muhammad Ali’s “I am the greatest” speech and gets the “aw, shucks” routine instead, you might think they have a lack of confidence. Think about a job interview. One of the questions that is always asked, is what do you feel are some of your flaws, or some variation of that question. It is widely accepted that this is an excuse for you to pretend like something is a flaw, when it is actually strength. “I really just am too focused on what I am doing sometimes and I can’t stop until it’s done. It’s a problem.” Or, “I just care too much.” These are the BS answers that employers have come to expect. What would happen if you were honest with them? “I am really not a morning person and sometimes it’s just really hard to get up and out of bed.” This is probably true of the general population, but would be absolutely unacceptable to say. Why? Because nobody tells the truth in these situations and being honest about a problem that most share doesn’t just leave you in the middle of the pack, in puts you at the back.

I have a friend who didn’t take a prep course to take the LSAT. This is really the way it should be. The test should be a measurement of how well your mind works at answering the questions provided. Sadly, it has become the norm to pay someone to teach you how to do the test well. This makes it so that in order to be on equal footing with everyone else, you have to pay 800 or 1000 bucks to do well. Luckily, my friend is extremely smart and was able to rock the test on her own. She is the kind of student law schools are looking for. Kaplan and Ace have made it so that top schools end up with the students who do the best on the LSAT, not necessarily who would be the best law school candidate.

I was in a ward soon after I got off my mission where many of the guys would often get up to bear their testimony about how much they loved to serve, and help people. One guy in particular would get up every month and gush about how much he loved people, and how much he loved to serve. He would rattle on for 10 minutes about wanting to help anyone, even if it was in the middle of the night, and how nothing made him happier than doing service for those in the ward. He quickly gained a reputation for being the hard working, service guy. The funny thing is that he did absolutely nothing. He was supposed to have home taught my friends all year, and he never came. When we had ward service projects, he would show up and talk to girls the entire time and accomplish nothing productive. But to my dismay, at the end of the year who do you think people thought of when it came to service?

Perception versus reality. Is perception reality? It saddens me to say that I think it usually is. What irritates me the most is when this is even true among friends. I was devastated recently to learn that someone who I considered one of my best friends was bagging on me and ripping me in a way that I never thought someone close to me would. The ammo was easy to find. It was the stuff that I joke about publicly all the time. You would think that the people that know you best would look past the self deprecation and lack of self promotion. The worst thing about finding that out was it makes me think, if this person that I absolutely trusted would do that, who else would?

But then again, I guess if people think something is true, it must be. Sad day for me.