jfin is here…

Went to see Into the Wild last Friday night. It’s the movie adaptation of the book by John Krakauer (same guy who wrote Into Thin Air).

“Freshly graduated from college with a promising future ahead, 22 year-old Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) instead walked out his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people. Was Christopher McCandless a heroic adventurer or a naive idealist, a rebellious 1990s Thoreau or another lost American son, a fearless risk-taker or a tragic figure who wrestled with the precious balance between man and nature?”

Fantastic movie. Some great wilderness / outdoors shots and full of a range of uplifting, desperate, happy, introspective, sad, and thought-provoking moments. I was struck by (among other things) how it showed the effect of single-mindedness combined with a failure to forgive on both an individual and family.

“Happiness is only real when shared.”

It was also a reminder for me of the tension between working a “corporate” job, doing the friends / church / city-living thing, and the enjoyment and peace I get out of being out in the wilderness. Sometimes I think I’m erring on the slightly cautious side at this point in life, but then “the wild” isn’t the only thing we have that is beautiful or brings challenge. That said, anyone for a trip out to the Pickets next summer? I love the look of those jagged mountain peaks. :)

Go see it, if you get a chance. And the soundtrack (Eddie Vedder solo album) is well worth a purchase / listen.

Listening to: Eddie Vedder - Society

Today, 5 years ago, I was woken up by James (or T?) and all of us Karori Road flatmates sat in the lounge in shock for an hour or two, watching the news unfold.

And now, I’m in America. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

I spent today at work, avoided CNN and other coverage, and it could have been any other day. But then, after work, went to see the new Oliver Stone movie - World Trade Center. Very personal, somewhat patriotic, and quite thought provoking.

One of the lines that really stuck with me was that of Dave Karnes - the Marine staff sergeant, walking through the rubble just as the movie was ending. “We’re going to need some good men out there to avenge this.” The ending text states that he went on to serve two tours in Iraq. Not quite sure what to say about that.

Listening to : Jars of Clay - Oh My God (this new album, Good Monsters, is great)

I came across links to this news article twice during my travels through the blogosphere today (Kiwiblog - some interesting comments there, and Sir Humphreys). Relevant to me, given that I’m a Kiwi who has just moved to America.

This is the first I’ve really heard of a noticable ‘anti-Americanism’ trend in New Zealand. Sure, there is a general discomfort held by many with the approach taken to the war in Iraq and the foreign policy of the American government, but I believe it’s a definite stretch to call it ‘anti-Americanism’.

What got to me the most was this:

Douglas Sparks, who came to New Zealand to oversee the Anglican Church’s Wellington Cathedral, suddenly packed his bags two years ago and vowed to never bring his family back. Mr. Sparks said he was the target of anti-US graffiti and his children were taunted by classmates who said they hoped US soldiers in Iraq would be killed.

Targetted by grafitti? Children being taunted by classmates? I find it incredibly sad that this is the experience of any person who might live in Godzone. That’s not a reflection of the tolerant, understanding and peaceful environment that I grew up in.

While the article doesn’t provide much information to support its point, it does refer to statistics reported by the Pew Research Center. I can’t find the exact report that contains these stats, but there is some interesting reading over at the Pew Global Attitudes Project.

Browsing through their most recent report, I realised again why international relations (especially diplomacy) must be handled in such a precise and correct manner. Somehow, the diverse and conflicting viewpoints and opinions of individuals and groups (political, religious, racial, cultural, geographical, etc) have to be agreed (or disagreed) and merged into a single message - and then communicated in such a way that it is interpreted in the manner intended by the recipient.

I’ve tried to write more, but the subject is just huge. All I can really end up concluding is that generalisation is dangerous, as are sensationalist headlines stating that the people of one nation have ‘turned sour’ to the people of another nation. So many shades of grey. Amazing anything gets achieved anywhere, given the rather complex nature of us human beings.

I can say without a doubt that I’ve met some top quality ‘Americans’ in the three months I’ve been living here, and hope to meet many more…

From ‘Knowing God’:

What matters supremely, therefore, [is not] the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it - the fact that he knows me. I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind. All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters.

This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort - the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates - in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.

Wow.

Listening to : Lifehouse - Everything

Driving along Stephens Creek Boulevard today and passed a corner with a bunch of protestors standing with American flags and banners. Wish I had a camera, but the three signs that stuck out to me were:

Close our borders

Racism divides America

Bring our troops home

Quite different messages, but at a glance they all looked fairly friendly with each other - signwriting even looked the same. Interesting way of making yourself heard .. stand on a corner with anybody else who wants to make a point regarding an issue, whether they are related or not.

President Bush is at an all-time low approval rating, the conflict in Iraq is nowhere near resolved (and Iran looks like it may be a problem), immigration (especially the Mexico-America border) has become a headline issue, the economy seems to be faltering with a huge balance of payments deficit (US$225 billion in last quarter 2005), birdflu is somewhere out there on the horizon … America seems to be stuck with several problems that may not be easily solved by this or any president. And Europe and Asia are definitely becoming stronger. A fascinating time to be living here, that’s for sure.

… Shift by Eight.  Love the lyrics…

Keep on moving, you bring me back
Falling forwards, we’re right on track
Even if I, change my mind
In a little while, we realign and get back up again

Describes life as a Christian quite well, I guess.  At the moment am also very much liking the two Fly My Pretties albums.  Fantastic sounds, very Kiwi. (Thanks Dave! :) )

I guess life is one big set of tensions, that we are always forced to balance off against each other.  Conflicting ideals, priorities, and goals that we are always trading off against.

So I figure, why not add another tension to the mix.  The balance between what to share on the big bad Interweb-thingy, and what to .. umm .. not share.  I figure this’ll mostly be a travel diary and place to share photos but you never know, it might get interesting at times.

If all you want is the photos then just click the ‘Gallery’ link in the sidebar. :)