Destructive Interference

Obama and the Ground Zero Mosque, Gingrich Goes Nazi & Republican Reagan...

2010-08-17T21:22:00.000-05:00

Directorial Debut!

2010-06-04T14:46:00.005-05:00

I made Checklist a few years back and submitted it to South By Southwest, but did not make the cut, so it's been sitting on the shelf ever since. When I found out that Bay Arts Alliance was going to be hosting a short film series, I thought I might as well give it a shot.So, my film finally gets to have its premiere!Here's a little summary of the film:"Tom is a happily-married father of a

The Hurt Locker

2009-09-05T19:27:00.003-05:00

The Hurt Locker is topping critics' lists this year, and it is a good film, to be sure. It had inspired me to write a rather long-winded and self-important essay concerning the problem with wars like the one in Iraq, but, as is usually the case, a bit of research quelled my zealous aims (maybe sleeping on it helped too), so I'll just write a review instead.Let me get the grievances out of the way

Weekend Music Links

2009-07-24T08:24:00.002-05:00

I've been maintaining a music-oriented blog for my place of work. I think it has some fun content. Check today's latest if you get a chance:Weekend Music Links: Issue 5

MTV's Exit Campaign

2009-07-22T12:28:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I am not one to plug MTV much, if at all, but having seen Radiohead's video about child slavery/child labor, which was part of MTV's new Exit Campaign, I was intrigued and wanted to find out more.The Exit Campaign's Website states that the program was designed to, "raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking in Europe and Asia. Since the campaign launched in 2004, MTV

Ginsburg and Eugenics?

2009-07-16T11:54:00.003-05:00

You may not be a fan of Jonah Goldberg, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on his argument here. This point is one that is often overlooked or hush-hushed by the pro-choice camp, and I think it really needs to be addressed. Sanger was no stranger to tying birth control to eugenics, and that is a serious ethical issue that should not be taken lightly. Goldberg's article can be found here: Ruth

Friendship Centre India

2009-05-23T09:55:00.006-05:00

This last week I've been posting videos chronicling the impact of Friendship Centre's ministry to the orphans and street children of Mumbai. Please take a look at this last installment, which shows the ministry's plans to expand the children's home and triple their capacity to help these children.To watch in HD visit:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXjJxF8v65c

Where Have I Been?!

2009-05-18T08:40:00.002-05:00

Well, it's been a loooong time since my last blog or pseudo-intellectual gripe regarding movies or theology or politics, so what's been keeping me? In short: video editing. I am hopesslessly slow at editing video, but hopefully this tortoise has finally yielded a finished product that will tell a good story for an organization that has been worth every bit of the time. Last October I accompanied

Letter to President Obama

2009-02-26T12:58:00.003-06:00

President Obama, I humbly request that you allow us to suffer. I am a citizen who has not contributed to the current financial crisis: I have not taken out risky loans or made bets on others' risky loans. Nonetheless I believe that we all share some blame for the current situation. I am to blame for not being more vocal about responsibility. I am to blame for not raising a clarion call to rouse

New Film Reviews

2009-02-22T11:08:00.001-06:00

2008 Roundup

Destructive Interference: Issue 1

2009-02-12T14:19:00.019-06:00

Main Page -Foreword - About This Blog - Noise in the Abortion DebateIn order to keep theslogan "pro-life" shouldpro-lifers also oppose war, repeal the death penaltyand become vegetarians, or is that only part ofa much more uncomfortable solution?The Fallacy Finder - Fallacies in the Gay Marriage Debate We take a look at fallacies used in two letters to the editor from oppositesides of

Foreword

2009-02-12T13:45:00.009-06:00

Welcome to the first edition of Destructive Interference. Please take your time with the material presented before forming knee-jerk reactions. It is not my intent that you enjoy this blog in the way we might enjoy a movie or a magazine, but to challenge us all (myself included) to examine our practices of receiving and spreading information. This is not meant to be consumable information, but

About this Blog

2009-02-12T00:14:00.002-06:00

“If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything.”I am not familiar with the origin of the above quote, but it has become the catchphrase for youth conventions and anachronistic church seminars dealing with the dangers of postmodernism. While it is usually the traditionalist who finds comfort in the phrase, it occurred to me recently that the concept espoused in the quote has seeped its

Noise in the Abortion Debate

2009-02-11T11:07:00.004-06:00

I think this is the kind of thing Neil Postman had in mind when he warned that entertainment and news would make poor bedfellows. Just like his models on the other side of the political spectrum, many of the conservative talk show hosts, Oakley is more concerned with entertaining his listeners. We often think that people want to be liked in the media, but that is only part of it. Who gets more

Sounding Off

2009-02-09T08:13:00.000-06:00

So I would like to get your feedback about this blog. Do you feel the same concerns about the state of news in our day? Or am I overreacting? Do you have any critiques, ideas or ways to improve this venture? I am looking forward to your feedback.Thanks for reading.

Bolt's Lessons in Metaphysics

2008-12-22T21:18:00.005-06:00

As you may know from a previous post: for Thanksgiving I visited my wife’s family in Deatsville, Alabama. Our time there is always both very refreshing and fun. Melissa’s sister has five children, and the energy level, as you can imagine, is pretty high. Before meeting the Morton family, I was not the biggest fan of kids, but in College, while courting Melissa, we spent a number of weekends in

Stirring up the Pot

2008-12-17T11:47:00.006-06:00

A friend of mine referred me to a talk that Kate Lynch gave from a church in Orlando. He said it made some people walk out, so my interest was piqued. She definitely threw some instigating statements out there. I'll need to do a bit more research myself, but I'm afraid that she succumbs to quite a few historical glosses, and the entire message is rife with generalizations. However, if you are a

Homeschool Logic

2008-12-01T11:19:00.008-06:00

I just returned from visiting one of my favorite places, Deatsville, AL. Sounds odd, I guess, but my wife's sister Candi lives there, and we have so much fun visiting with them and the rest of her family. Candi and her husband Kevin have five kids who are all home-schooled (hence the video above). Rachael, their oldest daughter just went through a book called The Fallacy Detective, which goes

My Vote Goes To...

2008-11-03T19:00:00.001-06:00

I decided to go through the sample ballot and give my takes on a few of the items and candidates up for vote, and now, just a few hours before it's too late I'm posting them for your last minute consideration. A bit too late to carry on any constructive dialogue I know, but putting this down has at least been good in that has helped me to better collect my thoughts (keep in mind that for some of

Playing off Political Fear

2008-08-18T14:28:00.002-05:00

I’ve been reading Edward Larson’s book A Magnificent Catastrophe, which chronicles the strange, but almost all-too-familiar events that transpired during our country’s first presidential campaign. The main contenders were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Back then the parties were divided mainly on issues of big government (Adams’ Federalists) versus individual freedom (Jefferson’s Republicans)

Stop-Loss

2008-04-24T15:56:00.002-05:00

Advocacy films are tough to critique. They can be terribly written, directed and acted, but if they raise awareness for a little known tidbit of tyranny or injustice does that boost their merit? That's the question the recently released Stop-Loss has raised for me. Its moral and social implications aside, Stop-Loss did not work for me as a piece of art or entertainment. I get the feeling the

Expelled

2008-04-17T11:42:00.002-05:00

Our youth pastor has been getting promotional info on Ben Stein's Expelled (his new documentary that attempts to show how modern science is acting like a religion in its dogmatic dismissal of Intelligent Design), and whenever a big movie starts targeting churches like that, I get the heebiejeebies. Before I continue, let me say that I think there is some truth to Stein's claim. I think if

More Favorites from 2007

2008-04-17T11:12:00.003-05:00

Hot FuzzWhile most fans of the Frost, Pegg and Wright triumvirate prefer Shawn of the Dead, I had a lot more fun with this film. While it may not have much to say on a deeper level, the movie was one of my most entertaining movie-going experiences this year. I’ve heard some critics fault the film because it didn’t fully comment on the action genre in the same way Shawn commented on the zombie

Best Movies 0f 2007 Continued

2008-03-26T15:00:00.002-05:00

Becoming JaneI’m a male, but I’m not ashamed to say that A & E’s Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite films (if as a miniseries it can be called such) of all time. My mom forced my dad and I to watch it while I was in high school, and while I normally would only remotely tolerate her chick flick choices (usually because I had crushes on the female leads), this classic won me over. I think it

Best Movies of 2007?

2008-03-24T16:15:00.003-05:00

After watching the Academy Awards last year (the 2007 awards-that is-honoring movies from 2006), I decided I would come up with my own list for the movies that should win Oscars for 2007. Unfortunately, Panama City is not the best place to play movie critic because our theaters often skip the films that end up being viable Oscar contenders. I was intending on having the list done by Oscar time,