Apocalypse Now Redux

It’s extremely long. There’re bits that don’t make sense. Marlon Brando is fat. Laurence Fishburne is very young. Martin Sheen was drunk. Dennis Hopper was awesome. Robert Duval says one of the most famous lines in cinema history. Harrison Ford plays a bit part. It was all made with no help with CGI. The helicopters were on loan and occasionally had to go back to a war. The music is amazing. They do nothing most of the film but cruise up a river. It almost didn’t get made. It’s based on a Joseph Conrad short story. And somehow: it is not only the greatest war movie ever made, I would nominate it as the greatest movie ever made.

Into the Wild

I watched this film for the first time with my mother. We were both amazingly engrossed in every second. The cinematography is stunning, the music is stunning, I feel in love with the 10 minutes Kirsten Stewart was on screen (then out of love thanks to every other film she’s done) and the ending is incredible. I loved everything about this film. It finished and I turned to mum, and she said “I can’t understand why anyone would do something like that”. I said “I can completely understand doing something like that”. Yet we both loved the film. It shows how people take their own experiences and relate themselves into movies. Her, as a mother, was watching the story of how a young person decides to completely uproot themselves, and disappear. She was imagining how she would feel as a mother if her son did that. I, being 20 at the time, could completely understand the appeal of disappearing. I can watch Into the WIld over and over again, and had a completely different experience with it (but that’s another story) some years later. Either way, it is stunning.

Clerks

I agonised over this film. I ALMOST included Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels instead. But the films of Kevin Smith defined a large part of my life. Are any of them brilliant? No. They are all flawed. Clerks is not perfect. But I wouldn’t change a single frame. The first time I watched it, I wasn’t 100% on it. I didn’t understand the words that were intercut throughout it. But this is one of the formative films for me that gave me a huge interest in the more experimental, low-budget, indie cinema that I can’t get enough of. After the events of this no-budget little film, the characters of the Quick Stop fracture into the strange Smith-ian world, with only Jay and Silent Bob keeping it together. But then it all comes gloriously back to Clerks 2. It’s very flawed. It has bad moments. But it’s worth it for the ending. I grew up with these characters, and I was very sad to see them go.

Fight Club

Someone once said to me Fight Club is like a bad haircut. Awesome at the time, but when you look back on it, you cringe. I disagree. For reasons similar, I didn’t put Donnie Darko and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on my list, despite many expecting me to. But watch Fight Club again, and it remains as one of the best (if not THE best) film of the 1990s). Norton (one of the best actors of his generation) is brilliant, Pitt is brilliant (and inspiring while at the gym…), but the film goes to Fincher. Everything he touched since Se7en has been stunning. And this is his high watermark.

Taxi Driver

This is one of those films that I can’t say exactly why I like it so much. It’s slow, not much happens until the end. But it is the high-water mark of the Robert De Niro/ Martin Scorsese collaborations. De Niro puts in the (arguably) performance of his career, and a 12 year old Jodie Foster almost matches him. The tension in this film is amazing, you can just sense how crazy he is slowly becoming. I love it, and I think everyone else who has seen it loves it as well. Haven’t watched it? Do yourself a favour.

Almost Famous

Yes, I know I’m not the first to put it on my list. I fell in love with Kate Hudson completely. I’m not sure, but I’d like to think my deep love for this film rubbed off on to Dave and Sarah.

Across the Universe

Again, a repeat. Hey, we’re all friends, right? Surely that means we have things in common. This was very much a “had-to-have-been-there” experience. I had always known the Beatles, wasn’t a huge fan. This film changed me.

Requiem for a Dream

More-so than almost anything about my friendship with my compatriot Drew, strangely, our love for Darren Aronofsky is the thing we have in common. No arguments, we both absolutely 100% love his films. Drew picked The Fountain, and I think we are perhaps two of the only people that are mesmorised by it. But it’s not my favorite. I could easily have put The Wrestler or Black Swan on here. I adore Pi as well, but anyone who has seen it…would never put it in a Top 10. Requiem for a Dream was chosen by me because it truly devastates me. Ever time. I know what happens, but I can’t look away. Jarred Leto and Jennifer Connolly are truly brilliant. If the was just their story, it would be stunning. But throw in the mother (the brilliant Ellen Burstyn, deserving of her Oscar nomination), and the movie goes to another level. Simple as that.

Singin’ in the Rain

This is a curve ball that I don’t think anyone was expecting. But those that know me know that I have a love above film, and that’s music. And not only is this the first musical I remember, it’s the first film, period. We had an old VHS recording that my mother loved to put on all the time. I remember all the songs and half the lines off the top of my head. I still have a soft spot for musicals (the second one I remember is the Sound of Music). I even saw the live production of Singin’ in the Rain when it was at the Adelaide Festival Centre when I was about 12. It was brilliant, as is the movie. The song Make ‘Em Laugh is still one of my favourite scenes ever.

Lost in Translation

I hired Lost in Translation expecting a Bill Murray comedy. It has Bill Murray in it, and it’s funny in parts, but it’s not a normal film, not by a long shot. This is the one film I could put on, no matter how I was feeling, and it would take me to another place. I don’t know why. It’s fitting that I began and ended with a Coppola film (Francis Ford and his daughter Sofia for those playing at home). I think I would always argue Apocalypse Now is the greatest film ever made. This is my favourite.

I hate it when we do this. In all fairness, however, it must be done. I am on the verge of punching somebody in the face next time I hear the  phrase “my favourite film of all time’.

I planned to scrutnise every film I love to the point where each had its own list of pros and cons, and use this information to chronicle my ten favourite films. But for obvious reasons, this snowballed and I developed a headache trying to remember, arrange and perfect a microscopic portion of a virtually endless catalogue. Eventually, I figured that the movies that come straight to mind when I ponder this question are going to rate very highly regardless.

I apologise for not discussing why some of these films make me feel the way they do – they just do. It all got too difficult for me. They affect me in ways that no other films do, and merely being a part of this list is enough explanation as to why I love them. So here it is, after minimal amounts of headbanging and more “oh! but…’ moments that I care to admit: Ten Films Sarah Loves (and will still love for always).

1. Almost Famous

A loose representation of Cameron Crowe’s life – an autobiographical piece, if you will. William finds himself touring with band Stillwater, living their life complete with Band Aids, promiscuous benders and his old-fashioned, overprotective mother begging him to come home. Eh; I could give you a full synopsis of the plot of this incredible piece of amazing film history, or if you haven’t yet seen it, you should STOP READING THIS IMMEDIATELY AND GO AND WATCH IT. GO!!!

2. Moon

How do you think you would cope, with only your own company for three years? With nowhere to go, nothing to do that is not your job? Would you go insane when you meet yourself? Could you handle learning that you are merely a clone? Moon is simply stunning, it floors me. And this has nothing to do with the fact that it was the first film I watched in 1080P.

3. Fight Club

I am my own sheer awe at the brilliance of this film.

4. Garden State

Zach Braff: well, I don’t particularly like him. I love his work, though – I just don’t think I could be bothered befriending him if I ran into him at a bar. Like Scrubs, Garden State is so beautifully executed, it has the optimal amount of emotional drive and uniqueness that makes something able to be noticed. I love the sombre mood this movie delivers, I love Natalie Portman and her giant dog, I really do like the print the bathroom and shirt were made in, and I am fucking amazed by the music! Zach Braff: you are a very talented individual, and thank you for introducing me to The Shins.

5. My Girl

My “My Girl” VHS was taped from TV. The first ten minutes of the video was of footage of a Romanian gymnast that dad couldn’t bear to part with. I watched the film so much that not only did I destroy the cassette, I can vividly remember Nadia Comanecis perfect ten routine when I close my eyes. I could also confidently tell you all about the ads that channel 7 were broadcasting at the time, and that according to those ads, License To Kill was on the following Tuesday evening at 730pm.

6. Lion King

“Everything the light touches, is our kingdom”
Whilst visiting from far north Queensland, my brother Daniel took me to the cinema to watch this, and I am pretty sure that an old family friend bought me the video the following Christmas. That being said, I should mention that this was the other VHS cassette I wore out completely…

7. Candy

If you want to reduce me to tears, sit me in front of Candy. Well executed love stories send me a bit crazy, probably because of a combination of me being a lady and being in a very happy, loving relationship – This film utterly destroys me.

8. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

“Sand is overrated. It’s just lots of little rocks.”

9. Across The Universe

I grew up loving the Beatles, and can say with complete confidence that they are my favourite band of all time. Combine this with a musical love story set in what my mum blissfully reflects on as ‘the best time of her life’ and the astonishing talent of Jim and beauty of Evan, and you have yourself Across the Universe – a utopia in my mind. This may or may not have anything to do with the circumstances surrounding the discovery of this film, but I will happily admit to watching it several times since and thoroughly loving it. The only negative thing I can report is that it turned “Strawberry Fields Forever” into a sad song for me.

10. Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain

I wish that my persona were so enriching that I felt the need change the world for the better, one small step at a  time. Also, Audrey Tautou is gorgeous.

Special mentions to Grease, Vanilla Sky and Eurotrip, three films that were removed at the very end…

There are some drunken ideas that rightfully never come to fruition, like trying to convince Softy that I could jump from my balcony to the neighbours roof  (if I’d tried i’d be dead or at least maimed now) or deciding with your wife that you would start a YouTube channel where she sings popular songs in Golum’s voice (you’d swear it was Serkis when she does, it’s a beautiful thing). This isn’t one of those ideas, this is brilliant. Tom and I were drunk. Proper drunk. We were flicking through my film library looking for something to put on, but the flicking turned to talking and debating the merits of particular films and that, dear readers, evolved into this.

We may possibly be the first people on the internet EVER to comprise top ten lists of films. Brace yourself, this is history in the making.

Also capitalization is Wikipedia’s, not mine, I didn’t include any films I’ve seen only once (despite loving Synecdoche, Total Recall and Bladerunner) or adaptions (Watchmen) because I felt like it wouldn’t be an honest representation (despite Drew cheating… twice), also it helped me minimize my shortlist. Despite my favourite film being #1 there is actually no order to these movies, the order is arbitrary.

1. Life as a House

So many of you think of Hayden Christensen as the whiny bitch that played the third cinematic incarnation of Anakin Skywalker, but before he was thrust into the world of Star Wars, I knew him as the whiny bitch that played George’s son Sam in Life as a House. Life as a House has spent the last 10 years gathering dust, being an unprofitable  film that barely even registers in a torrent search. However you can ask anyone I know and they’ll tell you that Life as a House is my favourite film of all time, it was the discussion of this film that spawned the list making we’re currently undertaking. I could go on about Kevin’s absolutely wonderful portrayal of a man remiss about his life and resigned to death, or about the classic tale of redemption that Sam undertakes but if you haven’t seen it I shan’t bother you with the details. In the film George figuratively tears his father down and freely admits it, it gives me hope about facing my own problems before they conquer my life the way they did his. Maybe it was my father leaving when I was only young, maybe it was wanting a nude Jena Malone in my shower (or Mary Steenburgen  in lingerie for that matter) or maybe it was just that essence of family captured, but I really relate to this film.

2. Almost Famous

Ok, this is embarrassing. I completed my list, got all my photos uploaded, and was ready to post it when I realised that Almost Freaking Famous wasn’t on my GOD DAMN LIST. It is an enormous omission that I tried to explain away in the footnote and couldn’t. The Majestic used to occupy this particular section of this post. I love The Majestic, it is the film that showed me that Jim Carrey could actually act, but Almost Famous is a triumph of feel-good cinema, Kate Hudson’s only notable accomplishment in her career, and quite frankly I couldn’t live with myself it Phillip Seymour Hoffman didn’t have a place in my top ten. From the deflowering of kids to the golden god on LSD Almost Famous never stops rewarding the viewer, Zooey Deschanel is the sister we can all relate to, Fairuza Balk and Anna Paquin are the groupies we wish we had, and despite Jason Lee phoning in another film where he doesn’t even try to act, Frances McDormand takes her relatively small amount of screen real estate and makes herself one of the most memorable characters.

You said we were going to go to Morocco. There is no Morocco. There’s never been a Morocco. There’s not even a Penny Lane.

3. Cube

When I first watched this cult sensation I remember falling in love with the look and feel that, alongside Vinenzo Natali’s amazing film making, was able to make you feel like you were right there in the cube with the other victims. Nicole DeBoer and David Hewlett went on to make careers in my favourite incarnations of the most epic science fiction television franchises, and revisiting Cube now pairs my absolute adoration for the film itself with my love for two Canadian actors who I consider breakout stars of their genre.

4. Wrath of Khan

Those who know me will show no surprise at this amazing movie being on my list, but its inclusion was more torturous than you may think. Even though I will always list this film second any time I am asked about my favourite movies I struggled with it taking up space on the page of my notebook dedicated to this challenge. Perhaps it has been a part of my life so long that it almost feels vestigial, I know I love it, everyone I know knows I love it, it’s almost wasted space on the page, a slot in the list that could have been otherwise filled. However! Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Mother Fucking Montalbán y Merino. Chest bared, Moby Dick allusions abounding, and absolute on screen presence. Just as Silence Of The Lambs was made by a villain who was only on screen for 16 minutes, Wrath of Khan is exactly as the title states, and executed exquisitely.

5. Still Crazy

This is the closest I have gotten to a ‘musical’ in this here list, it has a good half dozen well written and performed rock songs in it but it’s not about that, it’s a commentary on the rock star lifestyle but done with a fantastic British sense of humour. Where Bill Nighy isn’t even the main character of the film, as the bands front man he manages to make it all about him anyway. There is some soul searching, and some sinning, but there is never any redemption mostly just acceptance. I can’t overlook this film because I still remember the timestamp on my VCR display that I had to fast forward (or rewind ) to in order to watch Strange Fruit perform All Over The World.

6. Across the Universe

HA! I forgot about this musical, but it feels wrong to go back and change my Still Crazy rant based on that… Ok! So, what they say about first impressions? They’re dead right. Listen to A Mountain Of One’s collected works or watch Across the Universe and try to compare your opinion with mine, when I first experienced these things (on separate occasions mind you) they were at the time the greatest thing that ever happened in not only my life, but the existence of the universe itself.  The Beatle’s amazing songs couple with Evan’s beauty, Jim’s voice and a range of cameos that make even Bono lovable. Without listing in detail all the songs that I love in this film I will just say; greatest trash can solo. Ever.

7. Gattaca

Of all of these movies Gattaca is one of those films that I am relentlessly telling people that they need to see, science fiction fans or not. Gattaca presents to us such a believable near-future that in the 14 years since its release we are moving closer and closer to it as a reality. There is nothing so far-fetched in Gattaca that I couldn’t imagine my own children growing up in the world presented within. Points are lost for acting, especially Ethan Hawke having the emotional range of a particularly stoic brick, but Jude Law makes me smile in every scene he’s in. I know I’ve told you all plenty of times  ”I love this-or-that-film and you have to see it” but of all of the films on this list, seriously, right this second make a plan to watch Gattaca, rent the VHS from Jon San Video that I thrashed to death or download it off the internet (I think they stop tallying gross profit from films after 14 years) or comment below and I will send you my god damn copy, but do it. DO IT.

8. Moon

Moon. As deceptively simple a film as its own title Moon is fantastically executed. It sacrifices the “big reveal” in favour of explaining the plot directly and eloquently. While films like Inception and The Matrix take a fairly straightforward premise and try to bury it under layer upon layer of exposition to try and make the film makers seem clever, Moon presents a great story that has infinite layers of a rich potential universe waiting right beneath the surface. The director (David Bowie’s spawn no less) has promised to explore this universe in further films but Moon stands on its own, brilliant acting on behalf of Sam Rockwell with an excellent assist by Spacey. I have a feeling this movie will show up in many more of the lists here on Ok, to being with, but I couldn’t omit it from mine.

9. Orange County

When I first saw the posters at my local video store I was expecting a typical stoner-flick, devoid of heart and soul like they all were, but (spoiler alert) I loved it… Every last part of Orange County gives me a happy. The cast is a veritable who’s who list of actors you recognize from somewhere or other, and they all contribute in the best ways possible. Catherine O’Hara absolutely shines as Shaun’s mother Cindy, she is raw and intense, a caricature so well done that it becomes a portrait. John Lithgow and Harold Ramis may only have small parts they make up for it with absolute scale of performance. I wanted to end this entry with a quote from the movie and I got stuck at deciding which one to include, so despite my love for Bronc0′s, and Shaun’s getting of them, I’ll have to close with: “Three people! In the history of literature!”

10. Star Wars

I like telling the story of my love affair with Star Wars, I think it’s a prerequisite for my friends now and even if you read this post I have no doubt that while drunk in the future I will tell you this again. I happened across the Star Wars VHS cassettes for rent at the Bondi Blockbuster, nobody had ever told me about Star Wars before, I had no pre existing positive bias, I didn’t know it was a ‘thing’.  I liked the cover and I rented it, I rented it over, and over, and over again. I decimated those cassettes, the 4:3 and the 16:9 versions both. A New Hope, as it was retroactively titled, is in a word; stunning.

He tasks me! He tasks me, and I shall have him! I’ll chase him round the Moons of Nibia, and round the Antares Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up!

Anyone can tell you that making a top ten of their favourite films is hard. Being told that I’ve got a day to come up with them is harder. But no excuses – these are my favourite top movies, cut down from a list of twenty or so. Some of these movies I have included because I just love watching them so much (and have done – over and over). Some of them are here because I grew up watching them, and they’ve shaped my taste in film ever since. Some are here because I feel they are simply amongst the greatest films ever made and deserve a place.

So unlike my last hasty list of best scenes (which if I repeated would likely turn out completely different), these are not necessarily my favourites just because I like them. These are my top ten, for various reasons. Come back in a few months and the list is likely to change, but procrastination won’t get a list made, will it?

So, in order of “I fucking love this movie” to “This movie is fucking great”, here are my top ten:

1. Jurassic Park

Released in the dinosaur craze in the early 90′s (whether the movie started it or not I’m not sure – I was 6) Jurassic Park is everything a great adventure film should be. For me, it’s the sense of wonder that really sets this movie apart. As I’ve previously mentioned, the first sight of dinosaurs is just staggering, even after the hundred’th time I’ve seen it. It’s a masterful blend of solid acting, excellent use of special effects, and simply stunning music that sets Jurassic Park up as one of my all-time favourite movies. That, and dinosaurs. DINOSAURS.

2. Star Wars

An obvious choice I know, and one that I was unsure about including. While I don’t argue it’s a great film (obviously – I included it), I wasn’t sure whether I should include it in a top-ten. But ultimately, it had to be here, because of how it shaped my love for geekdom. I still remember the first time I watched it – my mother and father grabbed my brother and I, and sat us down in the lounge-room, telling us a movie was about to start that we had to watch. Then, Star Wars. Immediately afterwards, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi followed. Star Wars opened up the possibility of the genre to me, and it will always be important for that.

Many geeks will proclaim that Empire was clearly the best of the six Star Wars films, but I strongly disagree. A New Hope is simply more cohesive, with a greater sense of wonder and adventure, and is the only choice in my mind for best Star Wars film.

3. Lord of the Rings (Trilogy)

It may be technically cheating, but any single of the three Lord of the Rings films simply can’t be judged on its own. Like the books, they are one film, arbitrarily split into three parts. This is part of the reason they are here – Lord of the Rings is one of the only examples of a real trilogy I can think of, with most others really being a film with a two-part sequel.

Lord of the Rings is a staggering epic of film-making, it can’t be denied. The sheer amount of energy, time, money and passion that went into making this film had never been done before, and likely won’t happen again for a very long time. The recreation of the book was faithful in almost every detail (with a few unfortunate omissions) and the sense of scale was extraordinary. It stands as the only high fantasy film ever produced that manages to maintain the wonder and scope of a novel. It’s a masterpiece.

4. Band of Brothers

Why am I including a mini-series in my top-ten movies list? Because fuck you, that’s why. Band of Brothers is awesome. I love war movies – they hit me in that special place men have for historical violence and heroism. Band of Brothers is an epic retelling of the 101 Airborne Division, E Company, during World War II. It follows them from training, through the Normandy landing, the Battle of the Bulge, right through til the end of the war. The film deals with the hardships and loss, as well as the little and large victories these men achieved. You connect with these characters more than any other war film. It’s witty, sometimes funny, and often sorrowful, and it avoids the anti-war undertones that often insults the work of the men who inspire it.

Bookending each episode with interviews by the real men of Easy Company is a masterstroke too, with only the final episode revealing who these people are. The actors do an excellent job of capturing the stories of Easy Company. So yeah, cheating maybe, but Band of Brothers is well-deserving of a place here anyway.

5. The Lion King

So rarely has the opening scene in a movie been so spectacular. The Lion King ushered in a new epic quality to the animated films that would come after (for a time) and it is an absolute classic. The film was brilliantly animated and well-paced, with tremendous performances by the likes of Jeremy Irons and James Earl Jones joined by a great ensemble cast. Disney really let out all of the stops for this film, and it saddens me that even 17 years later, it has yet to be upstaged. The Lion King is emotional and mature, while remaining a family movie. It’s funny and sad, and altogether retains an epic scale.

I include the Lion King because of its formative impact. It was one of the first movies I remember seeing at a cinema, and it was stunning. A special mention must be made for Anastasia though – my favourite animated movie. It was a marvellous film from top to bottom, but I omitted it because I think the Lion King was the greater movie, if not my favourite.

6. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Hilarious and influential on my taste for British humour, Monty Python had to be on this list somewhere. I tossed up between this and Life of Brian, but in the end I think Holy Grail is the better of the two. In typical Monty Python style, it s witty and farcical at the same time, deep and altogether shallow. One of the greatest comedy films ever made, and never loses its shine.

Even though it could be argued that the film is little more than barely stitched-together sketches, it isn’t really important. The movie is hilarious, and is a cornerstone of my family’s film library.

7. Love Actually

I love the idea of this film. A film purely designed to celebrate love in its highs and lows, and everything in between. A stellar cast of almost all of my favourite British actors can’t go wrong. I include this movie because, for me, it does what it set out to do. I feel happy watching it – a sense that there is a greater purpose in the simple things. Very few of the characters seem larger-than-life, and the film manages to make even the mundane aspects of love seem important.

Besides, any film with both Liam Neeson and Alan Rickman in it can’t be bad.

8. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

The Last Crusade is an adventure film with no par. It is epic in scope but maintains integrity. It seems the film-makers were afraid that more than one scene in any individual country would bore the audience, but it manages to string together so many parts with a cohesiveness lost on most adventures. Indiana’s quest to find his father and ultimately the Holy Grail is easily my favourite of the four films.

The movies follows the same template as the last two films, but manages to add a freshness that stands it above them. Replacing the grounded plane from the first (chronologically second) film with a moving tank created an unforgettable action sequence. There is a real sense of adventure to this movie. Also, there’s an airship. And airships are awesome (I thought of including Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow because of this fact – that’s how awesome they are).

9. The 13th Warrior

“I am not a warrior”

“Very soon, you will be”.

This movie is awesome. The action sequences are basic, the night-scenes are too dark, and the ending is disappointing. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. Because this movie is so full of over-the-top awesome Viking dialogue that my conventional rating system for films is crotch-stomped into the ground. The characters are barely developed, but you like them anyway. The plot is just a mannequin to hold up the bad-arse dialogue, but you barely notice. Because this movie is awesome.

It is also one of the very few movies that seems to get better every time I watch it, and I’ve seen it a lot. Antonio Banderas does an excellent job as Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan, and the rest of the cast are equally competent in their roles. If you want a movie with a plot, development and a point, watch something else. The 13th Warrior does what it does exceptionally well.

I also noticed the similarities between this movie and Aliens – seriously, watch them both. They’ve got practically the same plot. I include the 13th Warrior over the also-awesome Aliens because this one has awesome Vikings, instead of semi-retarded whining marines. So yeah. That.

10. The Fountain

It may have been serendipity for me, but I was so utterly dragged into this movie the first time I watched it I was speechless. A convoluted mess, with almost no post-marking or exposition to tell you what the fuck was going on, somehow I got a tremendously deep meaning out of it. When a movie affects you on such a fundamental philosophical level, it doesn’t matter if it makes sense.

The Fountain was my first foray into Darren Aronofsky’s films, and I haven’t been disappointed with any of them since. While I think Black Swan could very well be his magnum opus, I include The Fountain on this list. I lucked out, the stars aligned when I first watched it, and it was a perfect movie-watching experience for me, that I had never had before. It was fragile – I felt that if the phone rang while I was watching it, it would ruin the magic – but that just made it more special. I’ve seen it once more since watching it, and it had the same effect on the other person I saw it with then. We ended up talking for hours about the meanings of the film.

Ultimately though, if you were to ask me whether to watch it or not, I would say don’t. I get the distinct impression that you have to be lucky, in the exact right frame of mind, to enjoy this film, and somehow that just makes it even more special.

Another special mention goes to The Fall, for similar reasons. I was dumbstruck by the simplistic beauty to be found in that film, but ultimately, The Fountain gets the spot.

So there you go. My top ten films. There are glaring omissions (First Contact, Pan’s Labyrinth, Moon, Independence Day, and lots more) but when picking a top ten, sometimes you just have to throw a dart at a board and see what sticks. As I said, in a few months it might be different, but for now, this is it.

April, my friend, you came along a lot sooner than I was expecting.

It only seems like yesterday that I had an idea – that I thought to be a pure stroke of genius at the time – to make a sort of visual journal, some kind of nutritional impact somewhere. Although I am armed with a sketchbook and Dave’s tin of Derwent Studio pencils, a plethora of inspirational pieces in the form of recipes and what I just know will be an interesting medical story once it finally eventuates and hopefully fizzles out into bubbles of happiness and good health, I AM STILL NOT READY FOR YOU, APRIL, DAMN YOU.

Okay, so there is actually a story behind this. To be honest, when it all began I have no recollection, but it has been so important in my life that I really don’t remember how I survived beforehand. I do remember however, deciding to conduct what I thought to be a small scale experiment. It was encouraged by both my GP, and the common sense of myself and my husband. After blood tests, elimination of iron, overdosing on fibre and whatever else we tried in vain to make me feel better, I stopped eating meat. Not just gradually decreasing my intake over a period of weeks or months, but 100 percent cold turkey.

It was not easy.

Imagine yourself as me in September last year. Only a week into this trial, your husband cooks himself up a succulent kangaroo fillet for dinner – which just happens to be your favourite meaty meal. TORTURE. But you survive on your vegetable whatever-it-was… barely. However, that weekend you venture out to dinner with friends. Still not used to being almost exclusively restricted to pasta and risotto whilst eating out at restaurants, the night ends in you throwing a childish tantrum and grumpily ordering the random fish meal they had on the menu.

Even now, I am being told by the professionals to eat more fish, more fish, MORE FISH.

So, as the weeks totter past and the cravings for meat gradually subside, I notice that I am beginning to willingly eat more Italian style foods, and more potatoes on the side, and actually getting sick of fish as it’s been on my plate almost every day since this whole affair started. Who’d have thought?

All of a sudden it is March of the following year, I am wearing my vegetarian cookbooks thin, branching out and experimenting with the likes of quinoa, lentils and rice pasta, and I only eat fish when I have to or when I am feeling particularly guilty for not being nutritious enough (thank you Doctor). I don’t even know when or why, but I have completely eliminated 95% of dairy from my diet. With the exception of a scattering of parmesan over my puttanesca, I have recently learnt that for some reason I can’t even enjoy a tub of yogurt anymore without suffering for days afterward.

What the….??

So, armed with my pretty purple sketchbook and a tin of coloured pencils, I endeavour to show whoever is vaguely interested a month of my life. This may include the aforementioned toddleresque scrawls of my eatings, ponderings and whatever inspiration I choose to ride; it may include recipes and heavily opinionated blogs posts of why I feel the way I do about food, ethics, vegetarianism and veganism, and it will most definitely touch on what happens when I embark on my long overdue visits to particular specialists to hopefully solve the mystery as to why food never seems to agree with me in the same ways that you take for granted, despite the huge changes to my diet over the last few months. If nothing else, it will at least make me more consciously aware of… something. Anything that may possibly matter someday.

Oh, dear. What have I just gotten myself into?

Earlier this month Ok, to begin with…’s editor Tom suggested that as writers we would all produce a post based on our ‘Top 5 of 2010′. His instructions were vague enough to include the sentence “Anything at all, Damn” (that may be taken out of context). And since I have nothing but contempt respect for him, I immediately started working on what you find below. Though I will admit, I wasn’t too sure what he wanted.

Does he want me to post about the most internationally significant events of the year? Or the worst celebrity break-ups of the year? I certainly wasn’t sure… What I took from his instruction was that I should list 5 events that had a profound, or near enough, effect on me while the earth made it’s most recent loop around our sun, however, most or all of the significant social or event experiences of this year that I’ve experienced have included another Ok, to being with… writer in one way or another, and I’d hate to write a redundant or repetitive post! Especially when they can probably do them more justice.

So in no particular order and with no particular theme, I give you my official five ‘things’ of two thousand and ten.

Aging

Everybody has aged this year just like every other year that they were alive and everybody takes that news differently, most people I know prefer to avoid discussion of subjects like ‘age’ and ‘birthdays’ because for some reason they fear the natural development of their life, they fear the change.

There are a lot of cycles in life, lots of circular motions that move at different rates like planetary bodies orbiting their star. I’ve been through quite a few of different orbits in my life, different jobs, changing passions and growing relationships, including those that have faded away. But as time passes and there are more and more years left in my wake I find that the way I tackle each of these cycles in life has changed. The changes were subtle as they happened but have left me interpreting events and people in drastically different ways.

Sure, the insane energy levels I had as a child have withered away and I feel tired more often than I feel alert, but I’m also slower to anger, I give every situation more thought, care and attention than before. It’s like that old adage about stopping to smell the roses, and now I almost feel like I can watch them experiencing the forces of wind in ultra-slow motion.

Aging is something I’ve done every year of my life, and it’s something I’ve always relished, but this year in particular it feels like it’s finally accomplishing something.

(Not quite) Natural Disasters

Before we begin let’s just establish that I’m definitely not a climate change alarmist, but I’m also not dumb enough to sit in a garage with a car engine running so I’m not blind to the fact that every action has a reaction and that some of those reactions can be invisible to casual observance. There is no way that we as a race can say that we have no effect on Earth by the way we act, just like there is no way you can say that Wildebeest don’t have an effect on the Serengeti. I’ll go further to say that I’m not blaming our actions on all of the disasters that occurred this year, but some subtly in ways we don’t realise, and quite obviously one of the worst.

In January Haiti was thrashed by one of the deadliest earthquakes on record, completely devastating the capital Port-au-Prince and causing an unparalleled loss of life, a loss of life that was caused more by the lack of facilities to care for the victims as it was by the quake itself. Which was shown clearly when It was followed in February by an even higher magnitude quake in Chile that took many fewer lives despite being one of the largest in recorded history.

April saw another earthquake, this time hitting China, and the volcano of which we do not speak it’s name (but that’s just because we can’t pronounce it) caused unprecedented havoc with air traffic across Europe. Not long following, in July, the earth finally fell silent and from above monsoons rained despair and misfortune upon millions of Pakistani.

The thin blue line of atmosphere that surrounds our planet is, for all it’s power, a relatively delicate and fragile thing that requires more care than we’re giving it, and while we can argue endlessly about how much we are and aren’t affecting it, it’s hard to get angry at a giant oblate spheroid of rock hurtling around Sol at a hundred thousand or so kilometres an hour. With such amazing energies at play it’s easy to forgive the layers of molten core and spinning mantle for having a stretch and a twist every now and then, after all it does give us somewhere habitable to live. What’s not so easy to forgive though is people. Greedy, stupid, careless people…

Deepwater Horizon was, and still is, the master clusterfuck of 2010, of the 21st century so far, and one of the biggest in our race’s short tenure as so-called-masters of this planet. I’ll admit to pulling up to a pump once every couple of weeks and pumping the refined product of crude oil into the tank of a car, sure 98% of my driving is for work, but that doesn’t absolve me of responsibility just like it doesn’t absolve anyone else. We put this power in BP’s hands, we gave it to them to abuse, just like we gave the gold-plated Ferrari’s and giant skyscrapers to the oil barons.

3D Cinema

It would appear that not even Michael Bay could make movies big enough and ridiculous enough with his “artistic style” so we’ve had to add an extra pseudo-dimension to cinema in order to push crappy film-making, drive up ticket prices and allow the consumer electronics market to sell you an entirely new TV that’s barely any different to your current one except that it can make you and your friends look like even bigger dicks while using it.

Not only did Hollywood (is it just me or is it referred to more as an evil benevolent entity than a location) rehash a poor cinema idea from the 50’s with new films but now we start having films being converted from their original glory into horrific parodies of their former selves. The only good thing that will come of this is another chance for me to see Star Wars in the cinema again.

But this kind of hype is nothing new, it’s been happening since print/visual media has been in use, no doubt Ugg used to paint the the best possible renditions of battles with mammoths on his cave walls in order to convince his cave-mates that it wasn’t a monumentally stupid idea to come with him. And I’m sure that they were as disappointed when they got impaled with tusk as anybody who saw Avatar. Yes, I realise that you have to take into account all the people who raved about how spectacular Avatar looked, but most of them likely have about the same level of intelligence as the aforementioned cave-people.

City Life

I mentioned previously that 98% of my driving is done for work purposes, and while I haven’t collated all the data to provide that number as precisely as I have, it’s definitely close. I’ve changed from a person who drove everywhere and walked when essential (usually drunk) and I had no problem with that. Now however it has all changed, because my beautiful wife and I have moved into an apartment in the CBD.

Sure we don’t live in the biggest city on earth, or in Australia, but living so close to all the required amenities has had a profound influence on the way I live my life. More than just a swankier address and a really easy post code this change in geographical location has also been a complete change in lifestyle.

Starting simply, I walk. Everywhere! All my groceries, all my shopping, and anywhere I could possible want to eat out is no more than 20 minutes walk away, and most of it about 5. It has allowed me a freedom from the car and the traffic that used to dominate every trip I made away from home and imbues every adventure out the front gate with something else that is very special, exercise.

On top of all this incidental exercise and environmentally friendly travel my social life has changed drastically. It’s so easy now to pop out for dinner that we don’t even think twice about it, and we’re so conveniently located that having a party is no more difficult than sending a few text messages and buying some ice. I feel almost changed on a fundamental level, the old Dave would much rather spend a Saturday night huddled up watching TV than trekking out to a bar, and he would much prefer cooking and eating at home, with a bottle of wine by his side, than finding his way to and from a restaurant.

But all that has changed, convenience has created a social animal that craves the company of others and loves heading out to discover new things.

And you…

Yes, dear reader. The beginning of this year saw Ok, to begin with… kicking off with steam, and the writing team were busy! Busy meeting a personally agreed upon schedule, in order to perfectly present the amount of awesome content produced just right so as not to overwhelm you with it all.

I know without doubt that while some of those posts were quite silly, some of them stand out like the Great Red Spot on Jupiter itself, they represent a a great inner light and talent and they reflect what were previously just somebodies latent gifts. Despite everything she brought Ok, to begin with… what the rest of us posted were mostly pointless rants and over the top egoism… though there were certainly some gems…

A great example being this post, and one of Drew’s more recent being Passing in the night,  and while Sarah may be the (excuse the term darling) idiot savant of the crew, and Drew may be the dreamer, our Tom is the educated one, the journalist, which is why his opinion on the dreaded shuffle made us smile and the lowering of his guard to write the almost self-analytical piece that I would have titled ‘I’m not a hipster, I swear’ were backed up by his true inner ability to write, and to write exceedingly well, even if at times doing so with what seems like zero effort.

Ok, to begin with… It has been a varied and inexplicable beast, like a band that could never find it’s niche… For those reasons it has never found it’s place, which is why the blog itself fell into disarray, because while the blog was trying to find its place some of us were just finding work, and others found new lives blossoming right in front of them, while some, were just figuring out just where they belonged.

And this… the two thousand and tenth rotation of our earth around it’s sun (since an arbitrary point in time based loosely on rough information given in the most successful fantasy novel of all time) has been a year of change and growth for many, and while Ok, to begin with… may have hibernated through the winter, there is definitely something special to be shared from the brilliant minds of my co-bloggers as it awakens for the Australian summer…

I’ll try to keep up with them (as always, overcompensating with my overuse of commas and parenthesis).

Be specific, but not overly descriptive. Be bold, but not irrational. Be brave, but not insensitive. Be kind, but don’t be disheartened by the selfishness of others. Don’t be glass half full. Don’t be glass half empty. You don’t have enough time to be measuring milk the rest of your life.

Be a pain in the arse sometimes; Putting up with you shows how much your friends love you. You don’t have to say it, but show it once in a while. There aren’t enough hugs going around. Give a few now and then, and don’t think of them as free, because they’re not. That’s what makes them special.

Wake up early. Sleep in late. Stay up all night obsessing. Stay away from your own company; other people are easier to get along with. Try new things, but don’t give up the good stuff. Be yourself, but be willing to change.

Write. Words will free your mind. Work in a boring job; that’ll free your mind too. Do something you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. Tell stories; other people need to know who you are. Some people are better than others, but who they are depends on who you ask.

Go to a concert. See a movie. Stay at home and be lazy instead. It all matters eventually. Take a chance sometimes – go out instead of staying home. Don’t make plans. Being spontaneous makes you interesting. You are weird. That’s what makes you fun. Keep being weird. If anybody asks, don’t tell them you took my advice.

Believe in what you want and who you want, where you want and when you want. More importantly, believe how you want. Live life. You only get one, unless you think you get more, in which case don’t live your life. You get another one, right? There’s time to live later. Right?

And most importantly, above all other things, no matter what you do or who you become:

Save the platitudes. Because platitudes are people too.

I’ve stumbled upon a theory.

This theory is dependent on whether you like, or appreciate, Star Trek (in any of its forms – see ‘The Theory’). This theory (hence known as ‘The Theory’) may or may not sway your opinion on the matter, but I feel it is worth at least a random, inconsequential blog post to parley (another awesome ‘cinematographique’ to put into question) .

Star Trek is an enlightening, intelligent, satirical and inspiring visual stimulus – IF you digest it as it is meant, and as it is delivered by the people involved. Now I am fully aware of the many other blogs, forum posts, magazine articles, full magazines, documentaries, newspaper clippings, and PHD papers that make basically the same point. What I am about to reveal is the way that YOU  can come to appreciate Star Trek.

You = “anyone who is not at the moment, enriched from the Star Trek experience, but who is willing to become interested”;

The theory is very simple, and best enforced through example. Note that this theory has different weighting based upon the Star Trek series in question, in order as follows:

Original Series

The Next Generation

Voyager

Deep Space Nine

My theory is thus: The importance of Star Trek, and its influence upon our culture can be socially, scientifically, spiritually and critically evaluated based upon the actions of key actors outside the realms of the show. If this were a PHD thesis, I would spell it out for you, but as it’s a random blog post you have stumbled across while Google searching ‘the true meaning of star trek’ (don’t actually Google search that, I was lying) I’m simply going to give examples of what I mean (in order of the ‘In order as follows’ bit):

Gene Roddenberry: Star Craft (thanks attributed) – He is one of the only people on the planet, to be directly attributed to influencing the creation of a national sport, bar anecdotes. His work in bringing the world of science fiction into science fact cannot be overstated either.

William Shatner: Spoken Word Poetry – come on, he’s good at it, and he brought it into the public eye; Boston Legal; being a general mockery of himslf also shows people that you can have a laugh in life – even at your own expense.

DeForest Kelly: Come back to this blog when you’ve converted. Truly R.I.P. a great man. A great man who was nothing more than a man struggling with greatness.

Leonard Nimoy: (Narrator) Civilization IV, the latest in a video game series that has spanned the years since the popular inception of personal computer gaming – in 20 years time, even those who don’t know what I’m talking about WILL know what I’m talking about.

George Takei: ‘Heroes’ – in no small part developed the popular  opinion of superheroes (regardless of your opinion of the show in question).

Patrick Stewart: Brilliant stage actor; In the workings to be the replacement for David Attenborough… I think that is enough, but I’ll add ‘The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’ (Narrator, ‘Emperor’) and ‘American Dad’ (popular adult comedy). Also; he is Patrick Stewart.

Ethan Philips & Armin Shimmerman: They’re in a LOT of movies and television shows. These two actors become recognisable fan favourites once you have digested ‘The Theory’.

Well, there are obviously more. The ultimate point is that each and every person involved in the television phenomena/fight for ultimate liberalism should be considered a Knight of the Order of the Human Race. Each of these people have strived (in the form of a far-out, cheesy soapish television series) to make our world better for each and every person, through the power of Modern Culture. It may seem a little silly, but it’s pretty much guaranteed that one of these people has affected your outlook in some way or another.

I’m not going to hold your hand, but if you are dedicated enough you will see how Star Trek, of all the pointless, base, overlooked, cultish and cheesy entertainment, has and will shape our world in the future. From the fiction of the show spurring scientists to make it so (couldn’t help myself) through to the work of former cheesy television actors influencing indie, and then popular culture, Star Trek has shaped our lives in more ways than any of us could possibly know – whether you like the show or not.

I only hope that the majority of humanity holds half the hopes and dreams portrayed in that most basic of television science fiction.

The more inane (and probably more astute) result of this theory is that the quantity of the recognisable cultural figures derived from a series of Star Trek is proportional to the significance and general awesomeness of the series in question… Actually, you could probably just ignore the bulk of this post and focus on that.

Everybody hates things. Whether the things are people or objects, ideals or idiosyncrasies, accents or idioms. I find it hard to figure out exactly why. I fear I succumb to the Church of Reason, and thus there are times when my more fiery emotions rise up against the most illogical, superfluous things. I know this, but as this blog is all about what I think of illogical and superfluous things, I have decided to make another list.

Yes all, it is indeed a list of the stupid things I find infuriating. Please, after perusing, feel free to submit a comment, telling us all of the silly things you find aggravating, disheartening, vexatious, exasperating and maddening. You don’t need to register, and I’m sure you’re just dying to let out all the frustration.

5 THINGS THAT PISS ME OFF; a diatribe, by Drew McMahon

1. The colloquial use of the word literally [being that, there cannot BE a hyperbolic use of the word] – Colloquial speech tends to emphasise the meanings of certain words in our language, in an attempt for us all to bring extra meaning to important points in our speech. There are a few words however, that simply cannot be blown out of proportion, one way or another. One of these words is the word “LITERALLY”. It drives me mad every time I hear the word when the situation described doesn’t warrant it. Literally, in case you don’t know, means: in accordance with, involving, or being the primary or strict meaning of the word or words. I think you can agree with me now that adding any hyperbole upon words under the stricture of the word “literally” would therefore completely discount the meaning and purpose of the word. Most of the time, this doesn’t bother me, as it is used in the heat of the moment, and when wrong, is often followed by the phrase “Well, maybe not literally, but figuratively.” But when printed in the pages of the news press, for instance, I immediately feel the need to dismiss the claims of the journalist as distended, hyperbolic and sensational speech. Why? Because if it is your job to deal in words, you should take some pride in your work and use words as they are meant to be used. Literally is one of the very few words in our language that CANNOT, cannot, and cannot be taken out of its primary definition. If you do use the word commonly, to emphasise any point you feel like making, like how you “got so drunk last night I LITERALLY DIED”, or how “Mum LITERALLY FLIPPED HER LID* when we came home after midnight ”, or any other silly thing, then please kill yourself right in the face. Literally**.
2. *Use of the word Literally, as seen above, but in a context where it is absolutely impossible, regardless of circumstances, for the phrase to ever be accurate – Note – *This sentence is impossible to literally fathom, as nobody’s mother literally has a lid to flip. This just implies a callous regard for words and their context, and makes you look like a moron.
3. **Use of previously identified phrases that simply cannot be take out of the context of their definition, as a pun or other trite, staid joke – See Point 1. – **last word, for example of lame, humourless joke. Even at junctures like this, where a point is being reinforced in a comical sense, the use of one of these phrases pisses me off, because it contradicts logic.
4. Insignificant shit that pisses other people off – I know you love your partner and friends, but occasionally we all have little things that drive us crazy, for no particular reason. For instance, perhaps your spouse leaves the toothpaste cap open, or puts the toilet roll facing the wrong way. Seriously people, how about a little pragmatism. Realise that it’s only a tiny difference, and you don’t need to have a domestic over it. We all need to learn to ignore the petty things, appreciate who we are, and stop using the word literal in phrases where it isn’t fucking meant.
5. People who cannot understand irony. Or double irony, or even triple irony, if you know me really well.

She slumps onto the couch; hot, hungry and exhausted from a hard day at work followed by a strenuous cardio session at the gym. Only two kilograms to go…then maybe she can fit into those size six jeans that call her name every time she walks into that iconic fashion store on the main street. Two hours of her day today was consumed by running, cycling and rowing, followed by a simple salad in a lame attempt to satiate her starvation. Let’s call her Madeline. She is thriving to be the image of perfection in a huge proportion of today’s world – slim, gorgeous and wanted.

Sarah, what the…? What are you ranting about this time? Well, as a matter of fact, I got sunburnt yesterday. I just couldn’t help it! The outside world was sunny and warm with the slightest breeze, it created the ultimate place to relax and recuperate between all the hard work I was doing… Who could pass the sunshine up?! My arms and face have been a little, well, stung today, which indeed has put a real downer on things. But then I thought “Wow, I really need to get a tan, I can’t possibly let my snow white limbs be seen by the public eye”. It has since occurred to me that there are just so many things wrong with that harmless thought that made its way down the path of my mind in the way that any rational thought would have done. That thought sent a massive proportion of my world into an even tighter downward thought spiral.

I know, it’s true. I have a very fair complexion, and being as ‘white’ as I am is just not seen as fashionable, or dare I say it, sexy, in the world we live in. So I genuinely need a tan. I would like to develop a nice, natural (as opposed to fake) sun-kissed glow. And this frustrates me to no end. As Summer approaches, tiny girls will wander around in little shorts and midriff tops – and this scene will become so abundant you simply stop noticing…but whether you pay attention or not, these tiny girls are still likely to have bleached blonde hair and solarium orange skin. This over-tanned, celebrity wannabe look is sought after by too many of the women that inhabit the generation I belong in. I do not find it attractive or glamorous at all.

But people do. They must! Otherwise WHY would they all continue to pursue this look after more than just one summer, so we can’t simply fob it off as another fashion mistake?

Why does this annoy me so much, I hear you quietly ponder? Well, let me explain to you. I’m annoyed that body image is so important to such a large percentage of the Western society – more important than say, one’s own health. Like our friend Madeline – she is not the only girl that puts herself through that torture. Look around you. Sure, there are as many average people as  there are gym goers, or health buffs, if not more. But being ‘average’ does not have the potential to consume you completely. It may be easier to live, but who wants to be just another person when there is the chance out there to rise above ‘average’, to become beauty in human form? How could you possibly be happy with yourself? Beauty envelopes all of us in the forms of things we actively consume – namely TV, music, and movies. There are superstars and models and just simply gorgeous people out there, living the red carpet life, and we all know it is far, far from the glamorous beautiful world they try to make us believe in.

There is a not so fine line between the amount you care about how you look and the lifestyle you live. I respect that everybody is different, but those of you that have overstepped the line just annoy me. It’s the human race in general that I’m at my wits end with. It’s not okay (healthy) to want to be like darling Madeline, and count every individual calorie you intake only to make sure you cycle off twice as many, because you need to lose just two more kilograms. Nor is it okay (healthy) to be 120kg and choose pizza with garlic bread and a can of coke for dinner because you don’t care about the way you look. Mate, seriously, what about your heart and your liver and your cholesterol levels? This is how people die every single day! The problem is, in my eyes, the not-so-fine line exists completely isolated and alone under the world’s bright lights in an over-crowded place, because so many people avoid it and make it invisible. As much as TV, magazines, and other forms of media advertise their beliefs that they are over rake thin women, and that bigger certainly is better, I find an alarming contradiction when I turn the page to see Mischa Barton “looking sexier than ever” – gaunt features, sharp angles and all. How can society be so obsessed with this look? It doesn’t matter as it’s basically the higher power these days.

I believe I have a fairly sound understanding of the way it all works, and of everything that eventuates out of everything else. I appear confident and comfortable enough with my image/weight to live my life with a bounce in my step and a smile on my face. But I’ve fought my own evil demons – that mentality that I’m not pretty enough, or I’m too fat, or my legs aren’t long enough for me to be beautiful since before I can remember. I have, for lack of a better term, ‘come of age’ in the last 4-5 years. In this period I have gained seven kilograms, lost about seventeen, and then gained about nine. If it wasn’t for my loved ones constantly instilling me with self confidence, combined with my almost anal eating habits, those demons would surely be red hot and most likely endeavouring to devour my entire persona. I’m just like everybody else out there that cares about the way they look more than they should. I’ll never stop. And there’s not a whole lot I can do about that and be happy simultaneously. Call it a religion, if you like, or just think of  it as teetering on the edge of the not-so-fine line. It’s ultimately my higher power. I have found the balance and realised that to abuse this power by either treating it or tormenting it is going to end badly…it’s all about compromise.

All in all, Somebody needs to flip the coin and have it land sideways, as this discussion has two very clear, very defined sides. And if you aren’t the sideways landed coin, you’re clearly, obviously heads or tails. Nobody wins. Nobody loses, either. Think about it, decide for yourself what side has the better argument. And let me know.