General

Sun - March 23, 2008

A new Easter Tradition (aka Dutch Baby Recipe)

I've made up an Easter tradition for our family, and thought I'd share the recipe

As I was reading Mere-O (you've added it to your RSS feeds by now, yes? good) this morning, I came across this post on Feasting and Fasting. Tex makes reference to "the simple yet monumental achievement of a Dutch baby browning in the oven." Which caused me to ask - what the heck is a Dutch baby? and is it the delectable looking thing he has pictured in the post?

Armed with the vast wealth of wiki/google/etc, I soon discovered that a Dutch Baby (also known as a German Pancake) is a yorkshire pudding-like confection that is sort of like a sweetened pancake/souffle that falls down in the middle. They traditionally come covered with a bit of lemon juice and dusted in powdered sugar, but the deflated middle also plays a nice host to fruits or other stuff.

Needless to say, I was very intrigued to try one of these things. So I went out and found a couple of good recipes and decided to throw my own together. As I began thinking about this, with Tex's observations on fasting and feasting rattling around in my head, it dawned on me that this might be a perfect Easter Sunday tradition. I have been looking for something to make Easter truly special for my kids - something that they will remember fondly the way we all remember Christmas.

Easter doesn't get the kind of fondness it deserves - it truly is the greatest thing we can possibly celebrate. Not only has Christ come to Earth and took on our flesh (which is what make Christmas so great), but He did so that He might die for our sins. And not only that, He rose from the dead on the third day to proclaim that even death, the very power of sin, had been utterly destroyed. Easter is the day we celebrate that nothing, NOTHING, will be able to restrain the grace of our God in redeeming us for all eternity. Shouldn't Easter get better traditions than anything else then?

Dutch Baby's are fun for kids to watch because they puff up all big before falling down, and they sound unrestrainedly sweet. I'm hoping this can be one of many traditions we can start with our kids to remind them of the wonderful joy of Easter and to help them look forward to a time when we will truly feast in a way befitting the joy of Easter.

Dutch Baby Recipe (w/ Marinated Berries)

Consider this a sort of mashup between Orangette's recipe and the Food Network recipe. I took a little bit from each to make this (though the berry sauce is taken as-is from Food Network. First things first, start by making the marinated berries:

Marinated Berries

2 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, and seeds scraped out with a knife and reserved
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
Grated zest of 1/2 orange
1 cup water
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 pint raspberries
1/2 pint blueberries, rinsed
1/2 pint strawberries, rinsed, tops trimmed, halved or quartered, if large

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, citrus zests, and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer very gently until syrupy, about 25 minutes. (Note: now would be a good time to pull out the ingredients for the Dutch Baby, to allow them to get to room temp.) Remove from the heat and add the citrus juices. Combine the berries in a bowl. Strain the warm syrup over the berries and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

While that is marinating, you can throw the Dutch baby in the oven. First off, preheat the oven to 425º.

Dutch Baby

1 stick unsalted butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup All-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Put the stick of butter into a cast iron skillet (10") and melt over low heat. Mix up all the rest of the ingredients in a blender (I add the cream eggs and vanilla first, then add the sugar and then the flour - but not everyone is as OCD as me. I'm sure you could probably throw it all in there and go). Brush the butter up the sides of the cast iron skillet, then pour in the batter from the blender. Throw it into the over and cook it at 425º for 25 minutes. But watch it - mine started getting a bit black around the edges at 25 min (Next year I may try Food Network's cooking instruction - drop to 350º after 10 minutes).

Remove from the oven, dust with a ton of powdered sugar, add the marinated berries, then praise God for food. Seriously, that last step will make it taste much better when you realize that life could be sustained by the runny goo they had in the Matrix - but to you, God has given the wonderful enjoyment of food. And sweeter still, He has given us Easter - the resurrected Son proclaiming forgiveness; our sin is no more, death has no power, He is risen indeed!

Tue - September 11, 2007

Sept. 11th

I almost didn't even recognize that today was 9/11

This morning I woke up like any other morning, went through all our little family routines and sat down at the computer to check stocks and get some early work done. I don't think it really hit me that today is September 11th until I happened to see Lileks had posted on it (I recommend the comments section there as well, some thoughtful responses about where they were on 9/11).

I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad that today seemed like any other day. On one part, its a great thing that we have moved so far past the specter of 9/11 that we can go about our daily lives and feel no more threatened by it than we do by December 7th. On the other hand, we have not yet defeated the people who attacked us on 9/11, and we are currently in a war with our troops in harms way daily. Can we afford to just get on with our lives when they have put their lives on hold and on the line?

Mon - September 10, 2007

Brant's Crockpot Carnitas

My attempt at a Mexican dish I miss out here in TN

Now that we're living out in TN - far away from a Chipotle or the wonderful Taqueria in LB and even far enough away from Costco that we can't get theirs either - we miss Carnitas. For those who don't know (shame on you), Carnitas are a slow cooked, pulled pork dish, that are common in Mexican restaurants (but also common to lots of Latin cuisine). We haven't really tried many Mexican restaurants out here, but most don't strike me as havens of great Carnitas. However, we do have Garden Mountain Farm out here, and they have lots of happy pigs raised organically and locally and not in a tiny little box (while I obviously have no qualms about eating animals, I don't think that means we need to mistreat them in the process - so I really like buying from a farm that treats them well).

So when you are stuck and you can't get it elsewhere, you give it a shot on your own. I'll preface this by saying that I am no chef, but we liked the way these turned out. I've basically culled a bunch of different recipes together from online sources, and picked up the things I liked about each. If you see ways of improving this, by all means speak up in the comments section.

4.5 lb pork shoulder roast
1 Lemon (juice and zest)
1 Lime (juice and zest)
2 Tablespoons ground cumin
salt
pepper
5-6 BIG tablespooons of chopped garlic (fresh stuff would be better, but with the chopped stuff I just go overboard)
1 qt Chicken Broth

Put all of the lemon/lime juice and zest in the crockpot and drop the pork right on top. Salt and pepper the top of the roast and then cover with the first T of cumin. Flip the roast over, salt and pepper that side, then cover it with the cumin. Dump all the garlic on top of the pork and then pour the chicken broth over the top.

Turn the crockpot on High for 30 min. Flip the roast over, and leave on High for another 30 min. Drop the crockpot to low and let the roast sit in there for another 7-8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pull the whole roast out (discard the liquid) and put it in a pyrex dish. Shred the roast with two forks. Put dish in the oven for about 15 min or so, just to crisp up the pork a bit.

Throw it in some tortillas with all the normal fixins and enjoy! Another great option is to fry some tortillas to make your own taco shells. Just heat some oil nice and hot, fold the tortilla over and hold it under the oil until it bubbles up and turns into a nice taco shell. For my fellow low-carb types, Mission has a line of low carb tortillas that are pretty good. This whole dish is pretty low carb, so as long as you use the low carb tortillas and watch what else you put on the taco/burrito, you should be good to go.

Fri - July 20, 2007

Thanks

An honor from Evangelical Outpost

I just wanted to ~~brag~~ post a word of thanks to Joe Carter for naming me to his Evangelical Outpost 100 - the top 100 Godblogs that have influenced him the most. Having met Joe and spent time talking with him at both GodBlogCons, I have to say that he's a good guy and an excellent blogger. EU has been a fixture in my RSS feed ever since I met Joe at the first GBC, and he has definitely been an influence on me as well.

It is an honor to be picked by Joe and to be mentioned along with a number of other great blogs - go and check out some of them. Thanks.

Mon - September 11, 2006

Officer James Wendell Parham

A tribute to Officer Parham, who died in the 9/11 attacks

James Wendell Parham - Police Officer, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Died at age 32 on September 11th, 2001

Officer Parham is one of the many unsung heros of 9/11. A former Marine and current Port Authority officer, he wasn't even assigned to active duty. He had just been recently promoted to an instructor at the Police Academy. In such a tremendous emergency, the Port Authority must have needed to call in every asset it had, and Officer Parham answered the call of duty. Officer Parham was in Tower One when it collapsed. His body was found with the bodies of five other officers and an obese woman who was strapped into a rescue chair. It is likely that they had already been ordered to evacuate, as the second tower collapsed first. Their courageous efforts cost them their lives, as they would not abandon someone in need of their aid.

How many countless stories of heroism were buried under the rubble that day? How many truly good men gave their lives in the service of others? May we never forget the Officer Parhams of the 9/11 tragedy. The pure evil and horror of such a needless loss of life only serves as a contrast to more clearly illumine their strength and devotion. We absolutely must remember the horror of that awful day, but I pray we also never forget the heights of character that it brought out in the fire, police and emergency crews. Now I have a name and a face to attach to that bravery, and I hope when you remember them, you'll think of Officer Parham as well.

Officer Parham, I am honored to have been given your name. You are truly a hero and a man of great courage. I pray that you knew the saving grace of Christ, and that I will be able to actually meet you in Heaven. May God watch over your wife and child that you left behind and care for them in His grace. And may you have some small piece of the honor you have earned by being remembered today. Thank you for your service, thank you for paying the ultimate price in an attempt to save others, and thank you for the privilege of researching and writing about you.

Mon - September 4, 2006

Hello, Gattaca

We've taken the next step towards instituting Gattaca

Gattaca is one of my favorite sci-fi movies. It doesn't have any glamourous special effects or weird aliens, it simply poses a very intelligent moral dilemma - are human beings more than the sum of their genes? In other words, are we simply computers made out of meat, who run in the grooves that were predestined by our genes? Or are we capable of transcending the hand that nature has dealt us? The reason I love it so much is it ends up giving a compelling case for the soul, because we are in fact more than our genetic material.

Gattaca is set in "the near future", when parents have forgone having children through natural conception, and turn instead to in vitro fertilization so that they can genetically engineer their children. They do this by picking out the embryos that happen to have any genetic disease, and then "fixing" a gene here or their on the ones they choose. As one of the doctors in Gattaca says "Its still the two of you.... just the best of the two of you."

This is where fiction is now crossing paths with reality. We are entering "the near future". Parents have begun choosing embryos based on genetic tests to see if they have any predisposition to contracting a disease. In other words, they see if their child has gene A which would indicate a high risk for disease B; if they see gene A, they discard that child and use one without gene A. (h/t WorldMagBlog)

But the list of diseases worth discarding a human for is growing rapidly. Once it was more serious diseases like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia, but it has now grown to things like colon cancer - a disease that the child may never contract and which, if contracted, would likely be treatable if caught early. These parents, rather than inform the child that they may have a heightened chance of a disease and should be tested, have decided to destroy the child instead.

Why do I say "child" instead of "embryo"? Because there is nothing different between that embryo and a child other than its size, its development, its location or its level of dependency (also known as the SLED test - h/t Stand To Reason) and all 4 of those would disqualify my daughter just as much as the embryo. Once an embryo has formed, it has a unique set of genetic material that represents a new human being entering the world. If its not valuable, then none of us are. (Unless we base our value on something malleable, like size: I'm worth more than my daughter because she's smaller than me, yet I'm worth nothing compared to Shaq. I could make a more sophisticated argument on this, but thats outside the scope of this post).

But I think this is stupid for another reason entirely - we aren't as knowledgeable as we think. Hubris comes naturally to humans and when we play God, we pretend we have His omniscience as well. This article raised the fear (as Gattaca did) that such practices could lead to a two-class society in which the wealthy have made their gene pool more "pure". But what happens when the market of nature corrects? How do we know that genes which we have currently singled out for causing unwanted things (which could be diseases or could simply be preferences like eye color) won't later be a key genetic immunity? Whether you believe in evolution or intelligent design, nature reproduces the way it does for a reason. My dad informed me it is called "Hybrid Vigor" - nature scatters genetic traits through reproduction so that things that effect one trait don't destroy an entire population.

Lastly, I think the practice leads to false securities. The opening sentence itself illustrates this perfectly:
"As Chad Kingsbury watches his daughter playing in the sandbox behind their suburban Chicago house, the thought that has flashed through his mind a million times in her two years of life comes again: Chloe will never be sick." (bold mine). Unfortunately, Chloe will likely be sick plenty in her life, and eventually will die and no genetic magic tricks are going to change that. Kids get sick. They get hurt. As a father it pains me to no end to know I can't keep my daughter from being hurt, but that's how life works.

Happy Vocation Day!

On this Labor Day, Gene Veith has suggested a great idea - celebrate the doctrine of vocation.

Gene Edward Veith - one of my favorite authors, Lutheran scholar, and blogger at Cranach - has suggested we co-opt the holiday of Labor Day to honor the doctrine of vocation. It's a great idea, and I think we should all join in and reflect on the doctrine of vocation.

I have mentioned vocation before on this blog, and I think it is one of the greatest contributions of Lutherans to Christendom. Our sanctification is not worked out in some spiritual vacuum, but rather God uses our different vocations (father, brother, husband, employee, etc) to mold us into His image. This means that we need not retreat to some special "spiritual" place and do only spiritual tasks, but rather we need to learn that in every vocation we are meeting the spiritual amongst the physical. When you comfort you crying child in the night, you are not simply losing sleep; God is in some small way putting to death that self-centered part of your soul, and displaying to your child, through your actions, his tender care.

So make today a little more than just a day off and a marker for the end of summer. Reflect and praise God for the different vocations he has given you, and strive for excellence in them.

Thu - August 24, 2006

2,996 : a tribute to the victims of 9/11

I'm taking part in a blogburst on 9/11 to honor the victims

Regardless of political affiliation, opinion of the war, or religious conviction, all sensible people can agree that the devastation of losing 2,996 souls on 9/11 was awful and tragic. In addition, we all can agree that the victims of 9/11 deserve to be remembered and honored. It is in that spirit that the 2.996 blogburst was organized.

DC Roe came up with the idea to honor all of the 2,996 victims of 9/11 by having a blogger assigned to do a tribute to each one of them on the 5th anniversary of 9/11. As of this posting, they need just over 300 more bloggers to sign up - so if you have a blog, please consider joining this worthy cause. (h/t Mere Orthodoxy)

I have signed up, and was randomly assigned James Wendell Parham, age 32, a resident of NY, who died at the World Trade Center. I'll be posting more on 9/11.

Tue - July 4, 2006

My Independece Day/Nick story

A recollection of me and my old friend Nick on the 4th

I have recently been reunited with an old friend via the blogosphere - Nick (blogging at Odelay!). He and I went to high school together and hung out a bunch in early college, but somehow lost track along the way and hadn't talked for quite a while. When Nathaniel (Anesthetic Smoke) found Nick's blog, I sent him an email and we caught back up - only to find that we still shared a ton of interests (poker, Disneyland, both of us are married w/ kids, etc.) He posted a few stories and memories from the old days. Here's his recap of how we met in HS - which, btw, Nick, calling Malicide a "glam/metal band"??? No way man, we were strictly metal! - and here's another funny story of the permanent scar tissue caused by hanging with me.

It being the 4th of July made me think of fireworks, naturally, and how mad it makes me that several cities have outlawed fireworks (see quote below). That in turn got me thinking about 4th of July back in the day, and I thought I would tell a Nick and Brant story of my own.

We both lived in Irvine, where fireworks are completely outlawed. Nick and I, being about 16 and 18 respectively, naturally had to venture out into any neighboring cities that did allow fireworks to procure and ignite our patriotic displays of independence. At the time the only such city in Orange County was Santa Ana, which also happened to be where I worked at the time - with a nice parking lot right in front. A slightly ironic thing, to buy your patriotic wares from a man recently immigrated from Mexico who can hardly speak Spanish, but it worked for us. We drove from one makeshift stand to another, carefully choosing our flowers, snakes, piccolo Pete's, roman candles, sparklers and other sundry ways of packaging fire for consumption by teenagers.

After we had pretty much covered Santa Ana by day, we rounded up our group of friends at night in front of the office and proceeded to set off our stash. My brother Brad - being older, fearless, and the biggest pyro of which I am aware - was our designated lighter. I personally love watching fireworks, but the hypochondriac in me can't stop thinking of what my bloody stump will look like after I've removed my hand via explosion. I'll still do the lighting if need be, mind you, but its always amid a constant debate with myself. Brad on the other hand - well, its amazing he still has 10 fingers.

I can remember playing soccer with lit smoke bombs and taking bets on who would win the tank war. Tank wars are constructed by placing these cool tank fireworks (a cardboard shell that looks like a tank, enclosing a powerful little flamethrower firework which shot the flames out of the turret) facing each other. The idea, similar to the great Peeps wars, was to see who's tank was more destroyed afterwards. Ah, the simple pleasures of life.

I hope you all have a wonderful (and safe) Independence Day. I'll leave you with the words of John Adams (the 2nd of July was when Independence was voted on, the 4th is celebrated because thats when the Declaration was finished and signed):

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end ofthis continent to the other, from this time forward forever.

"You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory I can see that the end is worth more than all the means; that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we [may regret] it, which I trust in God we shall not."

Fri - June 23, 2006

My mutant personality

Which X-Men character are you? Find out which one I am....

The Moviegoer posted the results of an X-Men personality test he took. Turns out he is Gambit, which seems right, but I don't know... I mean, I've played poker with him before, and well, perhaps he imbued his chip stack with a bit too much kinetic energy and it exploded.

But the quiz appears to be pretty accurate. It pegged me as Cyclops who happens to love Jean Gray very much, and it pegged my wife as none other than Jean Gray. Here's the results:

You scored as Cyclops. Cyclops is the team leader of the X-Men, and a skilled one at that. He loves Jean Grey very much. He's a strict and sometimes uptight leader, but he believes in his cause and he knows what he's fighting for... Peace between Mutants and Humans. Powers: Optic blasts

My wife:

Jean Grey is likely the most powerful X-Man. She loves Cyclops very much but she has a soft spot for Wolverine. She's psychic so she can sense how others are feeling and tries to help them. She also has to control her amazing powers or the malevolent Phoenix entity could take control of her and wreak havok. Powers: Telekinetic, Telepathic

It was a close call, as I was actually tied for two characters. The tie breaker gave it to Cyclops, but the other character is pretty accurate as well:

You scored as Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler is a very symbolic X-Man. He is persecuted by society because of his devilish looks, but it is his faith in God that gives him strength. He is a very gentle x-man but he does know how to fight and he enjoys fencing. Powers: Teleportation

Either way, I'd say that optical blasts or teleportation would be pretty handy powers to have. Take the test for yourself and see what X-Man you are.

Mon - February 13, 2006

Happy Day Before Valentine's Day

My wife and I celebrate God's grace as we met three years ago today

For most romantics and people in love, Valentine's Day is the biggie. Flowers and candy are at an all time high as people scramble to show the one they love how much they love them. For my wife and I, it usually happens one day earlier. Three years ago today I met my wife for the first time in person at a coffee shop in the mall. Our metaversary, as one friend calls it.

In three short years God in His grace has taken me from an awkward, socially inept, hopeless bachelor to a very happily married man with a beautiful daughter. If I were to document the spiritual changes He has wrought in these three years, it would be just as amazing. My wife is my constant partner, fun to be around, amazingly beautiful and, as we begin the next chapter of our marriage, a giving and excellent mother. I can't imagine how God could have more profoundly changed my life for the better and I rejoice in His providence. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Fri - February 10, 2006

New terminology

I came up with a blog-ified version of the writer's term "spilling ink" - "filling divs"

Peregrine Ward of Mere Orthodoxy (you have checked them out in their new location, right?) asked for a term that could replace the writer's "spilling ink". When people ask him what he's doing when he's trying to write, he tells them he's spilling ink. So he asked for a comparable witty retort when he is blogging.

I came up with the idea of "filling divs" and left it in the comments. Some explanation might be necessary for those less familiar with HTML and the underworkings of blogging infrastructure (indeed, part of the innovation of blogging is that now people who aren't familiar with HTML can easily put up a website, so it greatly expands the collection of great minds on the internet - not everyone can be geeky like me, but plenty have better things to say). The div tag in HTML usually is used to wrap pieces of content, and can be assigned a given style. The settings for the style can be easily changed, via a style sheet, meaning that the presentation of the words and structure of the page can be altered or "skinned" differently without having to recode the page itself. Due to this feature, nearly all content on blogs is put inside of a div tag and, therefore, when one is blogging you are filling in the contents of div tags - thus "filling divs".

It maintains the cadence of his original term, accurately describes the process, and even has the snarky/insider-esque bonus of being over the heads of non-geeks. I haven't yet seen if he liked my suggestion, but I think I may start using it.

Wed - January 25, 2006

Sarcasmagorical Podcast - Episode 0, attempt 2

A second shot at getting iBlog to iPodcast... same audio file

Originally attempted here previously, I shall once again try to podcast using iBlog. If this one takes flight, then you may want to add my RSS feed to both your reader and your iTunes. But before we get too excited, I think I should probably cut this post short, publish it, and see what happens.

UPDATE: It works, w00t! Takes a while to get my mp3s uploaded, but now that its a viable option, I may have to put together a few casts. Stay tuned!

Wed - January 18, 2006

LibraryThing and minor redesign

I've added a currently reading section to my sidebar - thanks to LibraryThing. Here's how to add one yourself

LibraryThing.com is a very cool site that allows you to catalog all of the books you own. Even cooler then that, it also has a social networking aspect to it (a la Flickr, et al.) that allows you to see other people with the same books as you, "clouds" of popular tags or authors, reviews, etc. I learned of it from Joe Carter's wonderful Yak Shaving Razor posts, and promptly told all of my friends about it. Somewhat hypocritically, I had yet to actually add a bunch of books or post about it here. That time has now come to an end, and I've added some books (though still a very small fraction of what I own - I'd really like to get them all put in eventually). You can find my library under Sarcasmagorical.

I must admit that I didn't actually take the time to add a lot of these myself; I simply waited for Nat to get his library all set up and then I went through and added books from his to mine (since Nat and I share many of these and have even read a ton together in book clubs). This ability to add off of other's list is yet another of the cool social networking aspects, and a way to get plenty of books in quickly. I did add a few on my own as well, and they have a search that goes through Amazon, which makes it pretty easy to find just about anything.

One thing they don't currently have, but that I (and Nat, and Van) desperately wanted, was the ability to add a little widget of the books we're currently reading. Today I figured out a way of hacking what they do have available so you can do just that, and you'll see that widget displayed in my right hand sidebar now on the main blog page.

So... how do I create a "currently reading" widget off of LibraryThing, especially since they don't have a widget that does this and they don't have a way of specifying what books I'm reading? Glad you asked. One of the cool features is the ability to "tag" books with certain keywords. For instance, you might tag Bondage of the Will with theology, Reformation, Christianity, etc. One of the widgets will specify a random selection of books from a given tag. So you could show a random selection of your theology books, or a random selection of your books on cooking. We're going to use this as our widget, and hack the tags to work for the currently reading feature.

First off, get your books into your catalog (obvious, but necessary). Then tag the books that you are currently reading with "Currently Reading." You can tag them with whatever else you want, but make sure that Currently Reading is in there somewhere. Then go to the widget page, and select the Random Tagged display widget. Make sure the tag drop down is selected to Currently Reading (the tag you just entered). Choose whatever other features you would like to use (if you want it to look exactly like mine, choose 10 entries, small book covers, no header, and style 2). I'd advise adding your associates id, so you can get some money for people who buy your books, but that part is optional. Now hit See it, and grab the code off the right hand side of the page. Drop that on your blog, with some header that says "books I'm reading" or something and viola! you've got yourself a currently reading widget.

In the future, as you finish books, simply remove the currently reading tag, and add it to whatever book you start reading next. An additional tip, that I thought of while doing this and I think I'll use, is to add a "read in 06" or "2006" tag when you remove the currently reading tag (assuming you actually finished reading). That way, when 2006 is over, you can go back to your library thing, and search for everything with that tag and you'll see what you read in 2006.

Sat - December 24, 2005

Movie Review: The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

3 stars out of 4 - while it maintain the central story of the book and had some great characters, it is not quite the caliber of the LotR movies and felt rushed. My full review and a character by character breakdown

The moment has finally arrived and what I had been anxiously awaiting and anticipating is now here - The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe has made it to the big screen. The result is a set of mixed emotions for me - I was overjoyed to see that they left much of the central story and message of Aslan dying to save Edmond intact, but I was a bit dismayed at the parts they did change. I was moved by returning to Narnia again, and the animals and scenery were very accurate, but everything moved so quickly I never felt like I got to take it all in. I definitely cried during the film and enjoyed it, and yet there is this nagging feeling that something was missing. I'll attempt to break down these mixed emotions into concretes by hitting the different aspects of the movie, and giving it a positive, negative or indifferent.

Overall production values: positive - This is a big budget movie and it shows. Weta did their usual amazing job with the weapons and the characters - I especially liked Peter's sword.

Peter: indifferent - Not a bad performance for sure, but also nothing tremendously compelling. Peter, along with the other characters, suffers from the writer's desire to make the characters conflicted and wanting to leave Narnia. Peter just wants to get Edmund and get home - a big change to selfishness from the Peter of the books, who believes they should fight for Mr. Tumnus because of his kindness to Lucy, and is a devoted follower of Aslan.

Susan: indifferent - Susan isn't much a of factor in this movie. She shows up and delivers lines, but its not like you notice her character much. This is probably also to blame on the writers, but her performance isn't exactly stunning either.

Edmond: positive - Perhaps its just because I love the books so much, and if you love the books, you can't help but sympathize with Edmund. He is the sinner I see in me, the selfish lack of concern that would sell out my family for some selfish gain. Edmund's performance in this movie is a positive as well. He carries the changed Edmund rather well, without making the earlier Edmund seem evil in a silly way and without making the later Edmund seem unbelievably and suddenly virtuous - not
an easy task for a child actor.

Lucy: very positive - Lucy is really the star of this movie. Even people who are not completely sold on the movie are completely sold on her. She really captures the sort of innocent and childish wonder of the character. One of Lewis' big themes in the Chronicles is this sense of child-like wonder and joy in creation. Lewis, more than any of author, captures what having faith like a child might look like, in order to give us a glimpse of ourselves and where we've grown old. The movie scene where Lucy first stumbles into Narnia captures this perfectly - you can see her face light up with the kind of wonder and amazement that is the heart of child-like faith.

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver: positive - Although I am very disappointed that they cut out one of my favorite sections of dialog that featured Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (see this post for the quote), and rearranged a large portion of their involvement in the story, the digital effects are great and they are believable characters. They come across as the lovable characters they are in the book, and I have no doubt that a lot of kids will find them charming and lovable (as I did). But where was Mr. Beaver's pipe?

Mr. Tumnus: indifferent - The look of Mr. Tumnus was done pretty well - he does look like you'd expect a faun - and the actor who plays him seems charming in his scenes with Lucy - which is definitely how he comes off in the books. However, one of the keys to Tumnus is his brush with evil and his character and love for Lucy winning over his own fears and selfishness. In the movie, you don't see as much of Tumnus' struggle and his despair for having, at least started to, serve the Witch. In the books, Tumnus' resolve and love for Lucy endears us to his character and gives us a real reason to care for him, but in the movie it moves much too fast for us to feel that connection.

Aslan: indifferent - While visually stunning and surprisingly believable as a character, they didn't capture the majesty and awe of Aslan in the books. Aslan was the central piece of the story in the books, and there is such a anxious awaiting and hopeful yet terrifying mood about him - you identify with the characters in the books and join them in longing to meet Aslan and yet still being fearful of what he will be like. I guess its not so much that the movie didn't do Aslan well, its that they didn't do the build up to meet him well and the other characters don't have the kind of fearful reverence and awe they do in the books. This fact alone is probably enough of an explanation as to why I think this film was good, not great - how can Narnia be great without her great King being shown in all his glory?

The Professor: positive - Although he is not a big character (in the book or the movies), he is one of the many vital supporting characters. The movie did a good job of capturing his quirkiness, his disdain of public schooling (what ARE they teaching children these days?), and his general charm. They did also include a bit of the great dialog he has with the children, but like many other things in the movie, it was so rushed through that it wasn't allowed to hit you with the force it does in the book. The book's professor delivers a cogent refute of the kind of materialism and science-as-epistemological-god philosophy prevalent today, and I wish they would have kept it intact. They still had the section where he advises the children that if Lucy is not mad, and she is a truthful girl, then the most viable option is simply to believe her story - the argument that would later become Jesus is liar, lunatic, or Lord.

My biggest complaint is probably that it felt so rushed and that they did not give us the time to enjoy this wonderful replica of Narnia that they've created. In LotR, you get to look around a bit, and take in the beauty of the Shire, or the amazing castles and strongholds. In Narnia, I can't really remember a distinct picture of Narnia because it was all moving so fast. This creates problems for the characters as well, as we are unable to identify with them or really understand their motives. My other main complaint is the rearranging of elements of the story. This article, has an excellent summary of one of the main changes and its consequences on the story. Another example is Aslan and the children's roles - in the books, Aslan is a very central character and the children are important, but not the whole story; in the movie, Aslan is more of a supporting character and the children are the heroes who are fulfilling the prophecy.

All in all, I would give it 3 stars out of 4, though I will admit I'm probably much kinder on it than normal because of my love for the books. I do really want to see it again before it leaves the theaters, and I am very anxious to see what they do with Prince Caspian (and with how good Lucy and Edmund were, I really would like to see a Voyage of the Dawn Treader). It is a good movie, but with some minor changes it could have been great.

UPDATE - GodBlogCon fellow attendee and friend Travis Fell (Voice in the Wilderness) dropped me a line to note that I had left the White Witch out of my review of Narnia. I can't believe I was so foolish. I have to agree with Travis, who says in his own review of Narnia - "Aslan’s frosty foil, the White Witch, is played with freeze dried nastiness by the freonically charged Tilda Swinton. I noticed the temperature drop in the theater when she was on screen." She does an especially good job in the first scene with Edmund, where she gently molds Edmund into the traitor he is to be. She has a coldness and bitterness to her that captures the White Witch well. Here again is a case of the pace of the movie diminishing what could have been great performances - we are given so little time to fear her or reflect on her malevolence, that her defeat is just another quick glimpse before the next big thing rather than the exciting and cheered triumph it should be.

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