The Oates' Valor

The Oates' Valor is a 12-minute short film written and directed by Tim Thaddeus Cahill (27), an up-and-coming writer/director from southern California. The film was recently selected as one of 11 short-films to show at the 2007 Festival De Cannes. Prior to Cannes, the film was also an official selection at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

I've known Tim since he was about 12 years old. My brother, Patrick McKenzie (27), worked as the Production Designer for the film.

The film is a glimpse into the struggles of fourth trombonist, Boyson Oates, as he flees home following several failed attempts at appeasing his father's militant demands.

To watch the trailer and to find out more about The Oates' Valor and Tim Cahill's other works, visit epistrophe films.

Pathology(n) Implants, Please

If you were to add up all of the psychological ailments that Americans complain of, the snapshot that emerges is a nation full of ninnyhammers (basket-cases, nut-jobs, psychos). Ten million suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. Fourteen million are alcoholics. Fifteen million are pathologically socially anxious. Fifteen million are depressed. Three million suffer panic attacks. Ten million have Borderline personality disorder. Twelve million have "restless legs." Five million are obsessive/compulsive. Two million are manic-depressive. Ten million are addicted to sex. If you consider wild-card afflictions like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and you factor in room for overlap (people suffering from more than one problem), you'll conclude that about 77% of the population is a mess. Throw in a few new quantifiable disorders, and everyone in the country will be officially and justifiably nuts.

In short, Americans are turning into annoyingly self-absorbed hypochondriacs. Authorities on the subject are somewhat split, it seems. While some diagnosed subjects are genuinely suffering from these disorders, others, it's believed, are simply justifying their anti-social behavior because they can. Go ahead and cry, says the prevailing psychological wisdom. Any trifling discomfort you may experience has been legitimized. If you're rude, short-tempered, impatient, deviant, or maladjusted, there is a diagnosis that acquits your conduct.

Perhaps you know someone that is impaired by one of these pathological ailments. And perhaps it's legitimate. I myself have been recently exploring a personality disorder called histrionic personality disorder (HPD), or hysterical personality disorder. HPD is a personality disorder which involves a pattern of excessive emotional expression and attention-seeking. These individuals are lively, dramatic, enthusiastic, and flirtatious. They may be inappropriately sexually provocative, express strong emotions with an impressionistic style, and be easily influenced by others.

This disorder occurs more frequently in women than in men, but the literature differentiates HPD according to gender. Women with HPD are described as self-centered, self-indulgent, and intensely dependent on others. They are emotionally labile and cling to others in the context of immature relationships. Females with HPD over identify with others, commonly assuring people that "[they] are the only people I feel comfortable with, or can talk to"; they project their own unrealistic, fantasied intentions onto people with whom they are involved. They are emotionally shallow and have difficulty understanding others or themselves in any depth. Selection of marital or sexual partners is often highly inappropriate. Pathology increases with the level of intimacy in relationships. These individuals are inclined to exploit physical symptoms such as sickness and fatigue, behavior associated with their incessant need for attention.

People with this disorder are usually able to function at a high level and can be successful socially and at work. However, histrionic personality disorder may affect a person's social or romantic relationships or their ability to cope with loss or failure. They often fail to see their own situation realistically, instead tending to dramatize and exaggerate. Responsibility for failure or disappointment is usually blamed on others. They may go through frequent job/life changes, as they become easily bored and have trouble dealing with frustration. Because they tend to crave novelty and excitement, they may place themselves in risky situations. All of these factors may lead to greater risk of developing depression.

The cause of this disorder is unknown, but childhood events and genetics may both be involved. Little research has been conducted to determine the biologic sources of this disorder. Psychoanalytic theories incriminate seductive and authoritarian attitudes by fathers of these patients.

The symptoms include:

- Constant seeking of reassurance.
- Excessive dramatics with exaggerated displays of emotions.
- Excessive sensitivity to criticism or disapproval.
- Inappropriately seductive behavior.
- Excessive concern with physical appearance.
- A need to be the center of attention (self-centeredness).
- Low tolerance for frustration or delayed gratification.
- Rapidly shifting emotional states that may appear shallow to others.
- Tendency to believe that relationships are more intimate than they actually are.
- Make impulsive decisions with little regard to the affect on others.
- The need to create drama or crisis in their lives to achieve significance/attention

Diagnostic criteria:

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a widely used manual for diagnosing mental disorders, defines histrionic personality disorder as a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

1. is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention
2. interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior
3. displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions
4. consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self
5. has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail
6. shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion
7. considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are.

A mnemonic that can be used to remember the criteria for histrionic personality disorder is PRAISE ME:

P - provocative (or seductive) behavior
R - relationships, considered more intimate than they are
A - attention, must be at center of
I - influenced easily
S - speech (style) - wants to impress, lacks detail
E - emotional labiality, shallowness
M - make-up - physical appearance used to draw attention to self
E - exaggerated emotions - theatrical

Treatment:

Because of the lack of research support for work on personality disorders and long-term treatment with psychotherapy, the empirical findings on the treatment of these disorders remain based on the case report method and not on clinical trials. On the basis of case presentations, the treatment of choice is psychotherapy aimed at self-development through resolution of conflict and advancement of inhibited developmental lines. Group therapy is not recommended for those with HPD because it often perpetuates histrionic behavior because the person then has an audience to play off of.

- Family therapy
- Medications
- Alternative therapies

Associated Conditions:

- Depression
- Anxiety disorders
- Panic disorder
- Somatization disorders
- Anorexia

Hopefully this will assist you in identifying abnormal behavioral patterns among people you know. To find out more in your quest, you may investigate Borderline personality disorder, Hysteria, or Narcissistic personality disorder.

Poppin' all the Locks

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

The Day the Earth Stood Stupid

Aldous Huxley has Brave New World.
Mike Judge has Idiocracy.

While BNW is considerably smarter, both share a strikingly similar dystopian vision of the future.

Mike Judge has built his career on stupidity, from his earliest creation of redneck simpleton, Inbred Jed, to the wildly popular MTV phenomenon that was Beavis And Butt-Head, to his cult hit Office Space (with the best ever use of the phrase "ass clown"). Idiocracy remains true to Judge's twit-themed criterion in its apocalyptic vision of a world gone dumb, based on the simple theory that people with lower IQs breed faster than eggheads. It's actually a plausible hypothesis to indulge. It's become all too common in society to hear that upwardly mobile cultural elites are postponing their plans to start a family until they get settled in their career, until they are financially more secure, or until the housing market stabilizes. Such factors don't seem to be influencing the middle to lower-class and thus, they continue to produce offspring at an alarming rate. It's Darwinism at it's purest. As the unintelligent begins exponentially outnumbering the intelligent, the fittest become the masses and thus, they are the ones that survive.

Luke Wilson's outstandingly average army man is at the center of Idiocracy as he is cryogenically frozen and wakes up 500 years in the future -- as the world's smartest man. He awakens to a world of digital clock towers, sofas with built-in toilet seats, a Gatorade-type sports drink that's bought out and replaced water, and the fast food and sex industries have merged (naturally).

The premise pretty much gives Judge free rein to attack anywhere he sees standards dropping and stupidity creeping in. He rips reality TV (with a show called Ow! My Balls! in which the central character's family jewels are repeatedly bludgeoned to a cacophony of laughter and cheers). Costco is a warehouse city, bigger and more stocked than could ever be necessary. And the President of the United States is sponsored by Mountain Dew. It's a rare thing when films feature anti-product placement.

Although the film itself doesn't even do the concept justice, it is a clever and gutsy comedy with something to say. I mean, how far off is this supposition, really? As audiences lap up 'comedies' such as Epic Movie, and Paris Hilton is glorified in all her folly, and people tune in intently to watch other people (with no apparent redeeming qualities to offer society) live out their lives on camera (and foolishly believe that it's 'reality'), are we not screaming toward a world gone dumb? I don't know that society will ever actually reach the depths of stupidity that sees entire irrigation units replace water with a power drink, but we are rapidly approaching a society that celebrates the deficient and abhors all things that don't include systematic neurological jolts that keep our adhd in check.

It's far from great, but depending on your mood, you'll likely find it at least mildly entertaining and thought provoking.

McRating: 6.0

Top 10 Comic Book Movies (Revised)

A slue of adapted-for-cinema graphic novels and comic book series have littered theaters for the past three decades, and several upcoming blockbusters set for release over the next year or so already in production, I thought it would be a good time to revisit my Top 10 Comic Book Movies list.

Agree, disagree, or indifferent, the following entries have proven to be more than just fodder for fanboys/girls and comic shop geeks. This is the lowdown on the best movies from the funkiest, funniest and coolest genre around.
Entries are not judged merely on their superior f/x or the accuracy of their adaptation, but again, their impact on cinema and the movie-going public at the time of their release. That's not to say that those attributes have been ignored, just not solely based upon.
I won't take the time or energy to breakdown each film in depth, but will give a satisfactory synopsis of each.

Here we go...

1. BATMAN BEGINS (2005): Although the previous four Batman releases thoroughly beat the Dark Knight franchise with the camp stick, this rendition redeems our hero by maintaining the same dark malevolence and coarse credibility that fuelled Frank Miller's revamp of the comic book franchise with The Dark Knight Returns (DC Comics, 1986). Despite the enigmatic title, this film gave us a cooler Batmobile, a killer cast and great villain in Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow.

2. 300 (2007): the latest adaptation of graphic novelist Frank Miller's creation based on the legendary Battle of Thermopylae. Championed by its makers as "Gladiator meets Sin City," the cinematic rendition of 300 is ferociously loyal to its bronze-and-crimson-colored graphic predecessor. This opulent, brutal and bloody declaration of discipline and belligerence may be far removed from the reality of the actual battle (although some historians number the invading force at 1 million, others claim that the Persian army consisted of no more than 250,000), Leonidas and company did face laughably overwhelming odds. 300 recounts the country's finest hour. Spartans have long been heralded as the fiercest warriors the world has ever known, but it was at Thermopylae that they earned their eternal glory. Nothing is more epic nor inspiring than the tradition of the defiant David standing up to the all-powerful Goliath - Homer knew it (The Iliad); Leonidas knew it; Frank Miller knew it; and after watching 300, you'll know it too.

3. SUPERMAN THE MOVIE (1978): Richard Donner's adaptation of the most iconic superhero of all time (Spidey and Bats are phenoms, but the Man Of Steel is the big kahuna) is a fantastical story that gave viewers the sense that the story was actually happening - that one would believe a man really could fly. Sure, the effects have dated considerably since the near-30 years that Christopher Reeves soared around the globe (reversing time), but it still has a sense of scale that impresses.

4. X-MEN 2 (2003): Bryan Singer's second stab at the X franchise is the perfect comic book entree which is exciting (Nightcrawler's attempt to assassinate the President), moving (Wolverine's anguish over his past), topical (a feared minority starts global conflict), and intimate (Iceman's 'coming-out' to his family). This edition was smart, funny and complex... and hugely successful for Singer, which bodes well for us as he is responsible for Superman's return later this year.

5. SPIDER-MAN (2002): A by-the-book origin movie that invites viewers to journey with Spidey every step of the way, as he faces off with a giggling Green Goblin. Getting to see the softer side of Spider-Man (Peter Parker) hit such a chord with movie-goers that this film is still the highest-grossing superhero flick of all time.

6. SIN CITY (2005): It was only a matter of time before someone attempted a direct rendering of the bold framing of comic book panels to film. Robert Rodriguez partnered with SIN CITY creator, Frank Miller, in this neo-noir release to produce the most accurate adaptation of graphic-novel-to-big-screen that's ever been done. SIN CITY oozes with style and its black and white film only adds to the style-over-substance design.

7. X-MEN (2000): This was the first Marvel masterpiece which sees a team of mutant superheroes protecting the very people who fear them. Riddled with spectacular special f/x, X-MEN is a wonderful story that single-handedly relaunched the comic-book-to-film genre after Warner Brothers effectively destroyed it with the horrific "Batman & Robin."

8. BLADE (1998): Predating the Matrix's leather chic by a year, BLADE is a slamming slice of high-quality action, dripping with attitude and cool. We see a reinvented BLADE (from the comic book) as a vampire hunter with a serious penchant for kung fu - the opening scene, in which BLADE lays waste to a nightclub full of bloodsuckers, is a veritable classic!

9. SUPERMAN II (1980): A multi-layered, multi-toned movie in which Supes falls in love, faces his own mortality and takes on three evil Kryptonians, each as powerful as him. With these three sub-plots in the mix, SUPERMAN II should never have worked... not to mention the fact that director Richard Donner was fired with 70% of the movie in the can, and replaced by Richard Lester, known for his playful streak that by all rights should not have meshed with Donner's straight-faced Americana.
But it worked.

10. HELLBOY (2004): Monstrous, horned and sporting an arm made of solid rock, for all intents and purposes, HELLBOY is the antithesis of almost every superhero you can imagine (save for, possibly, Ghost Rider or Lobo... but most of you have probably never heard of him). He's the spawn of the devil, for one thing, which may be why this labor of love is so appealing - spooky, exciting and romantic. Yes, romantic.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

• The Road to Perdition
• A History of Violence
• V For Vendetta
• Conan the Barbarian
• The Punisher (w/ Thomas Jane)
• Ghost World

The Five Worst Comic Movies (in no particular order):

• Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
• Batman & Robin
• Tank Girl
• Dick Tracy
• The Punisher (Dolph Lundgren)
  

Bye-Bye Christy... for now anyway

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think"

Christopher Robin to Pooh
A.A. Milne, Creator of Winnie-the-Pooh

I remember when I first heard that one of the participants joining nieuCommunities this year was a girl who had half-sleeves on both arms... I thought, "Oh good, a normal person."

Definition: nor-mal [nawr-muhl] - adjective
conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural; serving to establish a standard; approximately average

Ok, so my initial assessment was off a bit. Christy Lynn Scott is definitely not normal. That's not to say she's 'abnormal,' per se, she's just... well, she's special - wait, not in a 'short-bus, touch-me-and-I'll-stab-you-in-the-eye-with-a-fork,' kind of special... just special... to me, Jasheen and Gabrielle.

(and to think... I fancied myself a writer at one point)

Like most of the participants, Christy really didn't know what she was joining when she came to Glasgow this year. And like most of the participants, she had her (un?)fair share of personal and spiritual struggles. Aside from being Gabrielle's babysitter - of which she turned out to be spectacular - Jasheen and I got to know Christy most intimately as we journeyed with her through some of the more challenging times of her stay here. Our love and care for Christy grew more and more as she demonstrated a sincere level of vulnerability and honesty with us. And the one constant that we recognized in Christy, amidst times of loneliness, despair, frustration and even severe nightmares, was her unwavering commitment to find God in her circumstances.

Often times I believe that if we're not experiencing the JOY that we know comes from our wholeness in Christ, we think we're not experiencing God. When in fact, there are so many more ways for us to encounter God's presence in our lives. If life is hard or not-fun... if things aren't going our way or to our liking, we think God is absent. In other words, when we don't see God's goodness in our day-to-day lives, we assume He's absent... because of course, God is all about fun, fun, fun all the time, time, time.

Well I think I can say with accuracy, that the times Christy experienced God's overwhelming goodness while she was here, were few and far between, but that never stopped her pursuit of God, nor did it infringe upon her belief that God was still actively present in her life and circumstances. She intentionally sought out people and places where she could engage God and serve others - two of her highest values - and it was never a mystery that the Bible was a constant source of nourishment that she returned to regularly for strength and comfort.

I think it's safe to say that for most of her stay here in Glasgow, Christy was misunderstood - often times beheld at face-value, when there was so much more beneath the exterior. Jasheen and I were invited to see beneath the exterior, and we were blessed for it.

Christy left this morning, returning to southern California to begin a new chapter in her life. Grad school? Make-up artist to the stars? Aerospace engineer? God only knows. But she didn't leave before joining Jasheen, Gabrielle and I for supper last night at our favorite 'fine food emporium' in town - Kember & Jones (shock & awe - it was Christy's first time). We soaked up our last moments together and talked of plausible times in the near future that we might be able to see each other again. As tears streamed down Christy's and Jasheen's cheeks outside Tennents pub on the corner of Byres Road and Highburgh Road, it was hard to watch them hug and say goodbye. After one tearful goodbye two-and-a-half years ago, Jasheen swore never to get close enough to another participant to hurt like that again -- oh well, two-and-a-half years is a good run as far as personal oaths go, don't you think?

We'll miss you, Christy... and we love you!

James Banez: R.I.P.

It would be so cliche´ to say, "It's times like this that remind us how fragile life really is." But how else are you supposed to react to these kinds of circumstances?
I found out on Friday evening that a friend of mine from high school was in a fatal car accident on Highway 101 in California. I was really better friends with his sister, but we all grew up in church together. James Banez was around the EV Free Fullerton youth ministry for as long as I can remember. He was older than me... 5 years, actually, but he was always on our surf trips and at our summer camps... and like I said, I was friends with his younger sister, Charity. Which is where this tragedy takes a turn for the worse. On the day of his death, James was heading up to Palo Alto to comfort his younger sister. Charity and her husband had just lost their 3-month-old baby girl, Zoe, unexpectedly. James, his brother Allen and sister Sarah were on their way up north from Orange County when their vehicle was struck from behind and sent into the center divide. James (driving) was killed instantly, while Allen and Sarah were treated for abrasions, lacerations and other minor injuries and released a couple of days later. The driver of the other vehicle fled the scene of accident before CHP arrived and is still at large.
James (39) is survived by his wife Brenda and three children with one on the way.

What do I say about this? I mean, a family lost a two loved ones on the same day!!! Do I journey down some existential expose´ on life, death, what it all means, why, God, why??? I don't think so. I think I'll just remind myself that His ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. And right now, I trust that He is enjoying the company of two of his beloved children...

James Joseph Banez & Zoe Elkington

News Story: http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_124122505.html