Recently our bishop gave a brief lecture on some paintings by Thomas Cole - a series entitled “The Voyage of Life.” You can read all about the author and the series on the wikipedia page.
As the bishop explained, these are very powerful paintings in four parts that show a man in four different phases of life. (descriptions are below each panel).
In the first panel we see a baby in a boat with an angel accompanying him. The surroundings are lush and young.
In the second panel, the boy is set off to control his own boat. He aims at the dreamy palace in the clouds. The water is calm.
The third panel shows crisis. The man is grown, but experiencing the tumult of life. Not knowing what lies ahead, he calls on the angel to help him.
Finally, the man has reached the calm waters again. The angel is close and the man is looking again to the heavens.
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Our bishop explained to the youth in our ward that we need to prepare while we can for those times when the water will be rough. But to always remember that we are never alone, even through the rough waters.
This deep dish sausage and tomato pizza recipe from epicurious is delicious and easy and fairly quick (besides the time required to let the pizza dough rise). You could probably use the prepackaged pizza dough from Trader Joes to shortcut the dough step, but I have never tried that. It’s a great way to use a cast iron pan (one of my favorite kitchen tools). I used spicy italian chicken sausage from Harris Teeter (two sausages). If you live in Utah, use Harmon’s store made sausage– it’s delicious!
Robin and I finally made it out to a movie last night with a couple of friends. We saw Slumdog Millionaire. It was excellent.
Now many of you all know that I have a weird, and sometimes annoying habit of trying to see movies without knowing anything about them. Last night was a payoff. First of all, I’m not going to spoil the movie - you should go see it. That’s all I need to say.
I heard from a couple of trusted sources that it was a good movie. I didn’t watch the trailer; I didn’t read any reviews; I only knew the location, subject matter, and rating. As the story unfolded, it was a pleasure to discover it as the writer and director intended it, without anticipating something.
Last night, after the movie, I came home and read the reviews and THEN watched the trailer. I was surprised at how much of the plot the reviews and the trailer gave away. Even the short summary on Metacritic gave away most of the movie except the ending. What a shame.
So, anyway, if you can stomach a very gritty movie (it’s not a movie for kids - there are definitely some violent, cringing scenes where I looked away from the screen), and you appreciate a good screenplay, go see this movie, but DON’T read the reviews first, and don’t watch the trailers.
Here is my What/How/Why rating:
What (”what” the story is, think screenplay):
9.5 out of 10 - This is a very well written piece with pieces of the plot intertwined with pop culture as well as with story archetypes reminiscent of another favorite of mine: The Usual Suspects. Robin thought the story was a little cliche, which is the reason it didn’t get a 10, although I thought it was very fresh.
How (”how” the story was told, think director):
10 out of 10 - brilliant visuals, fantastic editing, I don’t know how they pulled it off on such a small budget.
Why (”why” does the story matter to me, think life):
5 out of 10 - Has some great moments, but not off the charts as to redeeming value.
24.9 out of 30. Not bad!
Check out my entry as to why I am the “future of journalism.” I made a fun little one minute video to go with it:
