Tonight Kara and I went out to dinner and saw M. Night Shyamalan’s new film - the Happening. I’ve been a big fan of Shyamalan’s writing from day one. But I’ve tended to be drawn towards his less “successful” films. Unbreakable? Awesome! Lady in the Water? Loved it. The Sixth Sense? Yeah, that was alright. For some reason Shyamalan’s skill at pulling off the twist ending has been like crack for audiences. They just want more. It’s unfortunate, but he has quickly become typecast as the guy who does twist endings. And then he went out and made a wildly intelligent film like Lady in the Water and people were pissed! The same can be said for The Happening, people will not like this film and not because it’s not a good film, but because it’s not a “good Shyamalan film.” Can we just judge him on the quality of his writing and not on whether or not he’s still in the tiny box we found him in… 9 years ago!?!

If you take this film for what it is - a modern day paranoia suspense film - you can begin to appreciate it. If you just want to see the Sixth Sense again, then just go watch that film again. In fact, stay home, and keep watching it over and over again and stop going to Shyamalan movies and talking during them about how different they are than the Sixth Sense! Yes, dudes one row behind me, I’m talking to you!

[spoilers ahead!!!] The Happening is a paranoia film. Suspense from something so commonplace, so ordinary that it is inescapable. Ever see a little Hitchcock gem called The Birds? Suspense films don’t have to be about insane serial killers, aliens from outer space, or ghosts… some of the most adrenaline inducing suspense films find their villans in the ordinary. And what could be more ordinary, what could be more inescapable than plants!? Or is it the plants? We don’t know. Could it be? It seems like it might be. The questions about who or what is causing “the event” are nerve wracking. And then what happens to you once you are “infected” or whatever… you loose your survival instinct. In fact it is reversed! The thought that a chemical in the air could cause you to turn on yourself and willfully find a way to end your own life… now that’s terror. And if that chemical came from some kind of a plant… well you’d have a hard time finding a safe place.

Why would plants do that? It’s not even possible is it? “Whatever it was, it was some kind of act of nature and we’ll never be able to explain it.” I love that line. There’s no need to explain what and why and how “the event” happened. First, because the characters in the film don’t really know. They make some guesses, some hypothesis, but no one really knows. So we are left to wonder ourselves. And sure, in the midst of the suspense we might just stop to think about our impact on the environment. But if I was a little kid and I saw this film… I’d have a new “boogey man” to worry about…

the tree in my back yard…

the grass on my lawn…

the hanging plant in the hallway!!!

Dear Friends and Family,

As some of you know, I will be joining a team from our church on a two-week mission trip to Malawi, Africa to provide assistance to poor and needy people in that country. Our goal is to develop a long-term partnership between the Allentown community (where I am a youth pastor) and a village/community in Malawi, where we would focus on comprehensive, sustainable development in an effort to raise the village out of poverty. I’m reaching out to my friends, family and blog readers to see if you would be willing to help support our efforts.

The Need: Malawi is located in the southeast quadrant of Africa, and is a country of breath-taking beauty, and back-breaking poverty. Malawi is considered to be one of the four poorest countries in the world, with unemployment estimated at 60% or more, nearly half the population surviving on less than $1/day, and more than 65% of the population living below the poverty line. The statistics about medical conditions are hard to fathom: the average life expectancy in Malawi is less than 40 years old, more than 13% of the children do not make it to the age of 5, and with HIV/AIDS rampant, there are a staggering number of orphans and child-led households. Throughout Africa, 3,000 people die from malaria every day (one every 30 seconds). These severe medical issues combined with the malnutrition and food insecurity caused by the severe economic conditions make it extremely difficult for Malawians to pull themselves out of poverty on their own.

Our Vision: As I mentioned, our vision is to partner with and adopt a village in Malawi and provide broad-based assistance designed to enable the village to lift itself out of poverty. We will be partnering with the Development Office of the Presbyterian Church in Malawi, and with them have identified a rural village an hour outside of the city of Blantyre, near the town of Zomba, which is currently not receiving outside assistance. Our intentions are to provide a variety of forms of aid, including (1) constructing a simple building as a mission center that will serve a preschool/feeding center for the youngest and most vulnerable orphans in the community and a training center for agricultural and other programs to enhance the food supply for the village; (2) purchasing and distributing mosquito nets to help prevent the spread of malaria, which is especially prevalent in the region; (3) providing funding for fertilizer and seed to enhance next year’s harvest, (4) purchasing needed materials and supplies for orphanages and the preschool; and (5) establishing programs for providing sustainable sources of food, such as the construction of fish ponds and providing livestock that will reproduce.

How You Can Help: I’ve agreed to the crazy idea of joining a couple of other members of the team in spending up to 72 hours on a raft in the middle of the Allentown Lake, as a way to raise awareness of and interest in the plight of those we seek to help. We are asking people to support our efforts by making a pledge to sponsor our time on the raft. Each of us has agreed to spend an hour on the raft for every $10 we individually raise, up to 72 hours. So, if I’m able to raise $720 or more, I will have to spend the full 72 hours on the raft. 100% of the funds raised will go directly to providing assistance to the people of Malawi. We have a competition amongst ourselves to see who can raise the most pledges (and thus be stuck on the raft for the longest!). The following gives you an idea of what your pledge would buy:

Item/Cost

Buy mosquito net/$10
Stock pond with fish to support 1 family/$10
Stock pond with fish to support 5 families/$50
Construct 20m x 10m fish pond/$200
Materials needed to build mission center/$4,000

If you feel moved to sponsor some of my time on the raft and make a pledge, or otherwise support our efforts, please let me know — we will be launching the raft on the evening of Thursday, June 26. You can either give me the funds or a check (made out to “Allentown Presbyterian Church” with the notation “Africa mission” in the memo section) directly to me, or you can send it to me at home (101 Farber Rd 7B, Princeton, NJ 08540). I’ve never used the blog as a format to raise money before, but doing whatever I can to help our brothers and sisters in Malawi is something that I feel very passionate about. Any support you can provide — even if it’s only your thoughts and prayers for a safe and fruitful trip — will be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or want to learn more about our vision, please don’t hesitate to ask.

For a peek into life in Malawi, be sure to check out the blog where our pastor and his family have been writing about their experiences during their year in Malawi at apcmalawi.blogspot.com.

Sincerely yours,

Charlie Lyons-Pardue

Thank you Jon Stewart for this gem. And thank you Fox News for keeping the Daily Show supplied with plenty of comedy. Do they even know the meaning of plagiarism?

Smart ForTwo
Originally uploaded by Hawk Eyes

Oh how I would love to have one of these babies!

I went and saw The Incredible Hulk tonight while Kara was at Starbucks studying. For my birthday she gave me two gift cards to my two favorite movie theaters loaded to the gills. So I’ve been able to indulge my summer movie cravings to my heart’s content.

Even though I never followed the Hulk comics, I’m usually game for a comic book film. I felt like I was one of the few people who appreciated Ang Lee’s attempt to bring the Hulkster to life on screen back in 2003. That one was so roundly disappointing to so many people I was surprised to see that they gave it another try. As it turns out, this is part of Marvel’s coming out party. They have started their own studio and aren’t relying on other producers to make their films anymore, and the first two films coming from Marvel Studios - Iron Man and Hulk. So think of this as Hulk (re)boot. Scratch Ang Lee’s film and let’s start again.

Normally this would have put me off a bit, with the whole “let’s try again” mentality. I probably would have caught Hulk on DVD if it weren’t for Ed Norton. Now, there’s a casting job to pique my interest. Then add to that the supposed feud between Norton and Marvel over how the film should be cut and I was hooked.

I’ve gotta say, I was impressed. This Hulk brought so much more of the raw power and fury to bear in its action scenes. The tender hearted moments are all done by Norton and not by the CGI Hulk (good move). It was a rip-roaring summer action flick. But it makes me wonder, what did they cut that Norton thought would have made it a better film? Will there be an Ed Norton Special Edition of the DVD?

I went out with one of the students from our church the other day to see Iron Man. I’d heard some great reviews and the buzz surrounding Iron Man was huge. Even with all the hype, Iron Man surpassed my expectations. I was pretty unfamiliar with the story line and had only recently overheard the “origin story” where Tony Stark, über-wealthy arms dealer, is captured by the enemies of America and is able to escape by building himself a robotic suit of armor. Fast-forward to 2008, update the enemies (Viet-cong to Afghani Terrorists) and we have today’s Iron Man.

[spoilers ahead] I really enjoyed Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as the self-centered billionaire, Tony Stark. He brought the kind of “rough around the edges” persona needed for this character. It also makes Stark’s conversion seem believable. And speaking of conversion, I was really surprised at some of the territory this film covered. There was a healthy dose of critique for the arms industry and Iron Man wasn’t afraid to portray the United States for what we are, the largest and most indiscriminate arms dealer in the world. Stark learns this when he finds that his Afghani terrorist captors are using weapons that came from his own company. While it may be public knowledge that the United States armed both al Queda and Iraq… oh, and Iran, we don’t often see that in the plot line of a blockbuster summer action flick. So to the writers with the gravitas to pull that one off… bravo.

Stark comes back from his captivity and has an incredible change of heart. As the president of the largest Arms Manufacturer in the world (Stark Industries), he holds a press conference and announces that Stark Industries will no longer be making weapons. The stock takes a 50 point nose dive and people begin to speculate if he is insane. Could you imagine if Lockheed Martin did something similar? Wow. Tony tries to steer the company towards more humanitarian pursuits while he begins to build the REAL version of his robotic suit of armor that got him out of Afghanistan. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a preachy Amnesty International film disguised as a superhero movie. It is still an action packed two-hours of eye candy… with a heart.

Last week Kara and I celebrated our first anniversary. A lot has changed in the past year - I have a new roommate, live in a new state, finished seminary, found a great church and my first full-time job but most of all I’m now a husband. Being married has been great and I can’t think of a better year of my life than the last. I love you Kara, here’s to you being the love of my life and to many more years of happiness together.

Last night the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup! It was a great season and an even better playoff run. The Penguins lived up to their reputation as a solid defensive team with some amazing offensive players. After the first two games the Pens seemed to settle down and they became much more formidable. Marc-Andre Fleury was amazing during the series but just had to face so many shots that those goals were inevitable. Osgood’s homecoming and second cup as the starting goalie was a great addition to this fourth Stanley Cup since I’ve been a Wing’s fan.