Travel Reading

"Finland is the only country in the world with more saunas than cars." Did you know that? I didn't. I bet there are many things that you don't know about the Finnish pastime of saunas. I didn't know much either, until finding this really interesting article. Read it and consider yourself a cultured person. I hope to report on my experience in a Finnish sauna next month.

Privacy is the New Zima

We do not live in a society with less privacy. Privacy advocates are carpet-baggers. Loss of privacy? Give me a break. Privacy is not the print of your finger, the address of your email, the size of your pants or the date of your birth. True privacy is what is private and can not be seen, read, smelled or heard or tracked. Your mind is your privacy. Everything else is a prop, a necessity of culture and society.

Get used to it. This isn't your ancestor's world. It is yours. Stop romanticizing the past. It's past.

Architectural Digest

Hey, let's build 5 gigantic circular buildings, stick a pyramid on top of them and call it the New World Trade Center.

Interesting ideas, and cool graphics but still seems to be missing something. Worth reading through their ideas on security and various features of the proposed center.

Bloggers' Justification

I am often in a position where I need to explain blogging to people, justify blogging to people or communicate the fact that blogging is not just for geeks or advanced Internet users.

Rick Bruner has compiled a great list of articles in mainstream press and other resources which clearly show blogging hitting popular culture. A great resource!

Open Your Eyes / Abre Los Ojos / Vanilla Sky

I just finished watching Abre Los Ojos, the 1997 Spanish film that was remade by Cameron Crowe into Vanilla Sky. This was my first experience with an action/thriller foreign film (thank God for subtitles). Although I know I am supposed to like the original foreign film more (because it is both "the original" and "foreign") I must admit to enjoying Vanilla Sky much more.

First, a pet peeve - Crowe was criticized for having a "let me explain the entire movie to all you laymen" scene towards the end. Fair enough. And although the original is not as blatant, there is still a hokey hypnotization scene where most of the film is explained.

Second, credit where credit is due - it is the original and was done with a much lower budget. When not comparing it to the remake (and even when doing so) it absolutely stands on its own as a kick-ass thriller - foreign or not.

Third, some personal insight - I had never realized before, and I am a bit stunned to realize now, that I enjoy seeing big Hollywood celebrities in lead roles. The meaning gets enhanced by Tom Cruise playing a wealthy playboy character who looses everything, including his sexy looks. I know Tom Cruise is sexy, wealthy and can have lots of fun. We, as a society, know a lot about our celebrities. Our knowledge of their lives can enhance their performance, even if it is never addressed (and obviously a movie would never say "hey, this is Tom Cruise!" since he is playing a role, duh). In Abre Los Ojos the guy is just that, a guy, and he has to go through some horrible stuff. Sure, I go with him on the emotional journey as I would with any good movie. But that journey has more meaning when it is taken with someone I "know" - even if just as a celebrity.

Is it just me or is that a big realization regarding the role of celebrity in popular culture? Is this something you have all known about for a while? Obviously Seinfeld is funnier to those who understand the NY and Jewish references, I realize that. I just think there is also something to the specific actors who play specific roles in certain types of movies. Another example would be my one hang-up about Tobey in Spider-Man - it was weird watching a "teen actor" (even if he is 25) playing the lead action role in a super-duper high budget action/sci-fi film. Just didn't work for me. I would have liked the film more if Bruse Willis or Arnold or even Hugh Jackman played the lead. I realize that wouldn't be true to the character, so don't send me hate mail.

That's just my opinion, I may be naive.

The Minority Retort

If you haven't seen the film then you may not want to read this blog entry. You have been warned.

Quick take - once you set aside some silly sci-fi crap, slapstick comedy and unrealistic futurisms the movie is fascinating.

Does having premonitions of the future remove freedom of choice? For a die-hard hack-time-theorist I didn't buy some of the founding principles of the movie. Here is the simplest way I can put this - Cruise only went to the "kidnapper" because he was told he was going to. It is like the scene with Neo and the Oracle from the Matrix - "did I know you were going to break the plate or did you break it because I said you would?"

In short, if visions of the future are possible, they are merely visions of a possible future. Free choice still reigns supreme. However, knowledge of that vision certainly affects one's actions - but only voluntarily - the choice to disregard free will is a choice. Knowing he was going to kill the guy, Cruise could have gone fishing. He would not have committed murder and the precogs (those who see the future) would have been proven wrong - end of movie. But, of course, we can't end the movie after just one hour.

Should the precrime unit be disbanded because one premonition turned out wrong? If the society is willing to jail three people and eternally freeze thousands based simply on suspicion then why isn't the society willing to accept a tiny failure rate?

I like Minority Report. I also like Cruise's previous film, Vanilla Sky. Penelope Cruz has a great line in that film - "Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around." If nothing else, that is the message of this film. I can set aside my obsession with time travel and focus on that as the actual message of the film.

I have choice. I can do what I feel is right. The only absolute is that there are very few absolutes. Life is short and so it must be treated with respect and a drive to make the most out of it - knowing that it isn't a zero sum journey.

Control is one of the most paradoxical things I can think of. The more you try to control something, the more harm you bring to it. Free will, to be free, must never be hampered with. There's a line in Devil's Advocate that says "free will is like butterfly wings, once touched, they never get off the ground." How far would you let society go to protect your freedom? Would you let them control your freedom in order to protect it? Do you live an ultra-safe life to protect it? Doesn't that remove the possibility of you living a stimulating life? Would you kill others to save loved ones? Don't they face the possibility of death when the survivor's retaliate?

Life is a wonderful thing and we need to live to our fullest potential. But I guess, when all things are considered, potential is a tricky word. Potential is what we make it. We make it. I make it. I make myself.

Some interesting links for further reading on the movie and what it brings up: Better Living Through Software, Monsur dot org, Captain Scott Ganz and Roger Ebert. Read them!