Manufactured Landscapes on The Hour

Edward Burtynsky was on The Hour back in April of 2007.  Here is a clip of his appearance on the show.  Here he is accepting his TED prize and here is the trailer for Manufactured Landscapes

Technorati Tags: Edward Burtynsky,Manufactured Landscape,The Hour,environment

Prince of Peace - God of War

John Campea's movie, Prince of Peace - God of War is now out and getting some good reviews from the film festivals. Yes I am in it and no I haven't seen my part yet... I hate the sound of my voice so I will see if I can get a special director's cut without me in it to see what McLaren, Campolo and others have to say. There is a trailer and more information on the site. As they say, it will also be coming to a theatre near you.

Surf's Up at the Roxy Theatre

Tonight Mark and I walked the 15 blocks to the Roxy Theatre on 20th Street in Saskatoon. I am ashamed to admit that despite working a block away and being a big fan of the restoration, I had never been there since it reopened (although I did see Rambo there as a kid). It is really nice inside and it has a lot more atmosphere than the crime against architecture that is the Galaxy Theatres. It took Mark and I about 40 minutes to walk down and we got our tickets (only $4) and assorted junk food for the movie. The reviews for Surf's Up were good and we both enjoyed the movie. There has been several articles about how the Galaxy is killing other theatre business in the city so I am making a concentrated effort to support the Roxy this summer and take in some other movies there with Mark. If you haven't checked it out yet, you will definately want to. Mark has already secured some commitments to see Shrek the Third and Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer over the next couple of weeks.

The Emerging Church Documentary

I have blogged about the efforts of Joe Manafo to film a documentary on the emerging church in Canada and I have been following his blog and on YouTube as he travels across Canada chatting with friends of mine and emerging church leaders about what God is doing in their contexts. Today I drove out to Living Waters Camp where Joe was speaking to hang out a bit with Joe and be filmed for the documentry.

I thought a drive might be good for the entire family so Wendy and Mark came along and we were able to catch up with an old friend from college. Joe also caught Wendy off guard and talked her into appearing on film. It was a little too much for Mark to see his mom and dad on film so he managed to get into the video.

One of the best questions he asked me was what are we preparing people for in the future? It's a good question and a couple of years ago I would have given him a different answer but I don't have a really rosy look at the future for the west.

I agree that even more than democracy, the western world is fueled by one central idea and that is cheap natural gas and oil. It allows us to heat our cities as well as transport goods all over the world for almost nothing (goods made cheaply in China are still cheap when they get here, do the math). With us running shorter and shorter on those resources (see here, here and here), it is foolish to think that there will not be some sort of economic transition and pain as we adjust or retool for the future on a massive scale. Also, I have friends who I went to school with who are just wrapping up their second marriages and are now looking for number three. Broken familes leave an impact that will continue to grow each subsequent decade for good or bad. Finally I think the church has been a product of the western world to a degree as a opposed to a Resident Alien in the western world. That is going to take some more figuring out and also practice until we get it right.

In end, as long as I looked cooler on film then Scott Williams, I will be pleased.

BTW, I am rumored to be appearing in John Campea's documentary, Prince of Peace, The God of War

Spiderman 3

I should have blogged this earlier but Spiderman 3 may be the worst super-hero movie I have seen (although the five minutes I watched of Catwomen were painful, it was only 5 minutes). The movie dragged horribly in the middle and seemed cluttered at times (and I like complex story lines). There were some fun scenes (JJJ getting harassed by his secretary) and the final battle scene was okay but the rest bored me. Not nearly as good as the first two.

As the Washington Post said

In an apparent effort to put a stake in the heart of the franchise that
threatens to define his career, director Sam Raimi has delivered an overlong,
visually incoherent, mean-spirited and often just plain awful "Spider-Man 3," a
tangled web of special-effects overkill and self-indulgence that all but
destroys the joy and goodwill created by the first two movies.

Of course the reason I saw it again was for Mark who turned seven yesterday but even he was bored in the middle of it. The movie did provoke some excellent post-movie debate like which Spiderman would get more candy at Halloween. I say evil Spidey. Of course while I like the big screen and the Galaxy is a great theatre. Here is the cost breakdown.

Parking = Free (we lucked out)
Admission for two adults and two kids = $35
A large popcorn, two regular drinks, two small drinks, and a small candy = $25
Grand Total = $60

I may never go a movie again.