What part of "fiction" do you not understand?!

Okay, I realize that I am taking something of a risk by making this post. I understand that feelings are running high over this issue and that I may get some, uh, interesting responses. (Dons flame-proof suit.) Please let me make it clear that I am not knocking anyone's beliefs or religion. I don't do controversial, especially not in my blog. I just don't. But this is driving me absolutely bonkers, and I simply must say something.

First, a definition or two that might come in handy. Per Dictionary.com, the entry from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company:

fic-tion n.

1.   a) An imaginative creation or a pretense that does not represent actuality but has been invented.
      b) The act of inventing such a creation or pretense.

2.   A lie.

3.   a) A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact.
      b) The category of literature comprising works of this kind, including novels and short stories.

Everyone got that? If not, try reading it again. In this case, definition 3a is most relevant to my discussion, though definition 2 is certainly the most succinctt. That's right, everyone, "fiction" is NOT BASED ON FACT. A LIE!! Got it? Good.

Then please, please, oh please tell me why everyone has their knickers in a twist about the book/movie The Da Vinci Code? I don't recall the film being billed as a documentary. Check out the spine of the book or dust jacket. I guarantee you it says "fiction" on it. Or maybe not. It might say "novel," which for your reference is defined by the same American Heritage Dictionary at Dictionary.com as:

nov-el(1) n.

1.   A fictional prose narrative of considerable length, typically having a plot that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of the characters.
2.   The literary genre represented by novels.

Gee, there's that word again, "fiction." Or, in this case "fictional," but the same idea (see). Made up, fake, untrue. Sensing a pattern here?

So, again, WHY are people declaring war on this poor man's story? Remember, it is a novel. It is fiction. It says so right on the bloomin' book!! I don't hear anyone harping on the people who have all tried to sue Dan Brown for infringing on their copyright (and there have been at least 2, perhaps more). That is the difference. Dan Brown, whether he came up with the idea on his own or read it somewhere else, said "hey, that would make a great novel!" (Please see above definition.) But people like Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh and their book Holy Blood, Holy Grail (and there are plenty of others following similar themes) are being completely ignored by the Vatican, the irate public, and the media alike (except for the lawsuits, of course).

I have news for you, folks. THOSE are the people saying that this theory is FACT! Those are the people whose books specifically state "non-fiction" on the side. That's right. Non-fiction, per Dictionary.com and WordNet 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University:

nonfiction n : prose writing that is not fictional

"Not fictional." And yes, you guessed it, Thesaurus.com says under its "fiction" entry that the antonym is "non-fiction." See, opposites!

So, let me get this straight. We don't care about the people (like Baigent and Leigh) going around saying that these theories are true. We instead are mad at Dan Brown and Ron Howard (the director of the movie version) for producing made up stuff. How does that make any sense?!

Yes, I understand that the fictional novel has a wider reach than the "fact based" book. (Hmm, perhaps this is telling in and of itself, no?) Yes, I understand that it is introducing people to a theory that is in direct contradiction to the teachings of the Christian church. So do a lot of other books and movies, particularly the glut of them that promote violence and promiscuity. Why are those not being singled out? Are you seriously telling me that it is *worse* for people to believe that maybe Jesus was married and had kids, than it is to tell them that murder is good and you should sleep with whoever you want whenever you want?

Per most Christians, the important thing to believe is that Jesus is the Son of God and died to redeem us from our sins. Does it ultimately matter if Jesus was married or not? How does that impact the incredible display of love and sacrifice of The Crucifixionon? How does that affect Jesus's/God's ability or desire to forgive sins and save souls? It doesn't! Believe in Jesus and what He did for you (baptismim may also be required, depending on your denomination), and you are saved. End of story.

The details don't matter. Married or not, pre- or post-ascention, predestination or free will, Catholic vs. Protestant.... these are all issues that Christians have been fighting about for generations upon generations. Does it not occur to anyone that these are all tricks of Lucifer to get Christians to turn on one another instead of to join forces against true evil in this world? TRUE evil, like poverty and drugs and violence and hatred. But are people focused on that? Are people joining together to combat those forces in this world? No.

People are making a big stink over some silly story that some man made up.

Currently feeling: baffled

Drumroll please!

by Blinkie Obsession

My first ever originally designed digital scrapbooking layout. I know, nothing fancy. Really pretty boring, but I didn't want to overdo it, especially when it will only be printed out at 4x6. At that size, I figured less is more. Plus, this is my uncle, so I didn't want to make it too frilly. Any thoughts? And please, be kind. I'm just learning.



Credits:
Photograph by Rita Warren
Font is SNC Script, a free download from the internet
All papers and elements by Kim Liddiard
From the Golden Dreams freebie kit at Digital Scrapbooking Place

Currently feeling: accomplished

I blame Melissa, Jennie, and Kerry

No link required

And I elect to "hit" Melissa, Jennie, and Kerry. It's all their fault, really. Were it not for them, I would not have spent the better part of a week downloading 6 *Gigs* worth of freebies from the web. Freebies for what? Digital scrapbooking.

I know, that surprises a few people. I'm really not the scrapbooking type. I've tried it, I love what others can do with it, but I just don't have the time and money to spend on it, particularly with only a mild interest. The best part about the digital version is that it is free! I already had the graphics software and digital camera, and all of the elements I have downloaded were freebies offered by numerous sites. I'm not sure I'll be into it for "real" layouts like most people use them for. More just to spruce up some pictures of Luke to send to friends, like for his birthday and such. But that's not what got me started on this.

The whole story really starts and ends with Melissa. She made the cutest Christmas card of Ursula for this past Christmas. I really liked the look of it, and hung it up on my refrigerator (as I do most photos of friends and family I receive). I didn't really think any more of it; I was just impressed with Melissa's graphics ability. Then both Jennie and Kerry started talking about this "digital scrapbooking" thing on their blogs. Cute, but I don't really want to create these huge pages to print out, and there isn't any point in spending a bunch of time on something like that if no one is going to see it. Then I caught sight of the Christmas card on my refrigerator again, and it occurred to me that Melissa had essentially scrapbooked her Christmas card. Hmmm....

The closer it got to my brother's graduation (now about 2.5 weeks away), I started thinking wouldn't it be a great idea to try something similar for his graduation announcement. So after being struck initially with the idea from Melissa, then learning of the actual term "digital scrapbooking" from Jennie and Kerry, I finally emailed Melissa to find out if that's what she had done for the Christmas card. Sure enough, it was, and she sent me a couple of links to "get me started." Oh good heavens, she sure did! I have so much stuff downloaded, I don't know how I'll ever find any of it useful. I am on total overload! LOL But I do have a few samples of grad announcements already done, and they look fabulous, even if I do say so myself. No, I'm not going to show them yet. They don't have pictures in them! (Well, they do, but they are pictures of Luke being used as "stand ins" for the actual photos of my brother in his cap, gown, and doctoral hood.) Once we decide on the final version and get some real pictures in it, I'll post it here. Until then, I might decide to run a few cute ones of Luke, when I have the time to whip some up. Still too busy downloading to actually start cropping at the moment. LOL

Currently feeling: scrappy

Kaena: The Prophecy

I have had this movie featured over in my left sidebar for a few days now, and I have received a few inquiries about it. Here is my Movie Musings on it. If you receive my newsletter via email, you've already seen it, but I'm too tired to do the web update tonight, so I'm just going to copy and paste into here.

Kaena: The Prophecy (PG-13)

In a Nutshell: Visually stunning! A true piece of eye candy with incredible CG rendering. Story interesting, execution okay to good. Worth seeing if you are into animation and/or CG.

Quick Plot: A high-spirited teenager discovers the secret of her dying world. Can she convince her people of the truth, even though it goes against all of their historical beliefs, and lead them into a new era?

In Detail: I saw this movie quite a while ago (close to a year, maybe?), and I have in fact seen it several times, but I hadn't thought to write it up until just now. It has recently started coming on our movie channels again, though, which is what reminded me of it. In fact, had it not been for our movie channels, I never would have seen this movie. (Have I mentioned I love our movie channels?) I was hunting for something to watch and I saw this title, which I had never ever heard of. Then I saw that it was animated (how could I not have heard of it?), and then I saw that Richard Harris and Kirsten Dunst were the main voice cast. Excuse me? Turns out it is one of the very last things he did, and the film is dedicated to him. Anyway, I flipped it over about 40 minutes into the film, and I was simply astounded by what I saw. (Keep in mind that my first exposure to this film was on a hi-def channel.) It is just jaw-droppingly beautiful in its crafting and detail. It was created in France (with an originally French voice cast) by game programmers, and it shows, both in visual imagination and skill. It is also clearly made by some men who need to get out a little more (evidenced by her costume (or lack there of); I've seen much worse, but still). LOL It was originally a 3-D movie, which I can imagine was completely mind-blowing. The creatures are amazing, the story is okay, but it is worth seeing purely for its visual beauty.

Will I Buy It? I don't know. I can't say that I love the movie, but I find myself watching it more often than not if I catch it on. If I found it for the right price, I would probably buy it.
Currently feeling: exhausted

It really is genetic

by SEYP

It happened a few months ago, and I dismissed it. But it happened again this weekend, so it can't just be coincidence. At the age of 18 months, Luke is officially fascinated with Marilyn Monroe. We've watched lots of musicals with lots of different pretty women in them, including a few blonds (especially one of my favorites: Betty Grable). He might pay attention to a few bars of the songs, but that is about it. When I first flipped on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes about two months ago, Luke showed almost no interest. It was the very start of the scene with Jane Russell and all of the athletes. He glanced at the screen, and kept playing.

End scene. Enter Marilyn. Luke looked up, and simply stared at the screen. And kept staring. And kept staring. I tried to get his attention, and he ignored me. I got between him and the screen, and he screeched! He was utterly and completely mesmerized. She ceased to be on screen, and he lost interest. She returned, and he simply stared. I was astounded.

Eventually, I passed it off as a fluke. It was just her voice or something. It most certainly is unique. Well, the movie came on again this weekend, and this time I muted the television as soon as I changed the channel. Luke was in the kitchen at the time. As soon he came into the living room, he stopped dead in his tracks and just stared at the screen. I simply could not believe it. I'm not sure he would remember it from 2-3 months ago (maybe he could), but still. DH picked him up and moved him back from the television (it is a 53" screen, and Luke was only about 3 feet away). He continued to stare. Once again, and very intentionally, I stood between him and the television, and he pitched a total fit! As soon as I moved, he was fine. As soon as she was no longer on screen, he completely lost interest.

Somewhere, embedded deep in the Y chromosome, is the Marilyn-affinity gene, and DS definitely has it.
Currently feeling: astonished

Happy Easter!

by Heidi's Blinkies

Hope your weekend is wonderful!



Currently feeling: hoppy

Imagination

by Blinkie Obsession

Imagination, imagination.
A dream can be a dream come true,
With just that spark in me and you.

Anyone recognize those lyrics? I know for sure at least one of my readers does (hi, little brother). I'll post all of the lyrics to the song, as well as the source, at the end of this post.

I have spent a lot of time lately pondering imagination. Luke has recently started to mimic us, especially talking on the phone (didn't realize I did it that much). Very cute, and more than a little bit scary, I have to say. But the weirder thing was to see him pretending to cook. I don't know why that seems different than the phone thing, but it does. Either way, they both require imagination, and it is so cool to see it develop in someone else where it never existed before.

Isn't the brain an amazing thing? It gives us so much, and we understand so little. Why is it that we start to imagine? And more importantly, why is it that so many of us stop. Well, maybe not stop, but we sure don't spend much time on it. Too busy with "practical matters," I suppose. That is why I so envy my artistic acquaintences, like Jennifer Aikman-Smith and Teresa Wentzler. Coming from a world of engineers, I won't say that we don't use our imaginations, because we do. Think about the air filter problem during the Apollo 13 mission. Now *that* took some serious imagination to come up with a solution. But it's not the same. It's not as fantastical, or as fanciful, or gosh darn it, not nearly as fun (at least not to me). All kids have such amazingly vivid imaginations. Why on earth do we let that go? I'm not saying we should have a society of daydreamers, but a little mental escape never hurt anyone. I wonder if that is why our dreams get so wild as we get older; our brain has to find other outlets for all of that creativity.

Now please excuse me, I'm off to hitch a ride with my friends, Dreamfinder and Figment.

Journey Into Imagination (One Little Spark)
from the original "Journey Into Imagination" ride at EPCOT
Lyrics and music by Richard and Robert Sherman

One little spark of inspiration,
Is at the heart of all creation.
Right at the start of everything that's new,
One little spark lights up for you.

Two tiny wings, eyes big and yellow.
Horns of a steer, but a loveable fellow.
From head to tail, he's royal purple pigment.
And there--Voila!--you've got a Figment!

We all have sparks, imaginations.
That's how our minds create creations.
Right at the start of everything that's new.
One little spark lights up for you.

Imagination, imagination.
A dream can be a dream come true,
With just that spark in me and you.

Mix red and gold from autumn flowers,
Purple and blue from twilight hours.
Green summer hills and rainbows play a part.
A painter's brush, a work of art.

One chilling word, like shriek or killer,
Can spark the mind to start a thriller.
And some words like dagger, blood, and gory.
And then, a mystery story.

Some happy songs, some snappy dances.
Costumes and sets, spoofs and romances.
With laughs and tears, and footlights all aglow,
The sparks ignite a brand new show.

Imagination, imagination.
A dream can be a dream come true,
With just that spark in me and you.

Currently feeling: fanciful