As We Know It… This song by REM has been running through my head this week as I prepare for Sunday’s worship. It’s the first Sunday of Advent which begins with this passage from Luke. This passage is known as a “little apocalypse”. We believe that Luke took the ideas of Mark and explained them a little differently. What is he trying to communicate to his listeners about the end of the world?

Wait. We’re on the first Sunday of Advent. Why are we talking about the end of the world? Come and see!

"Spirits Divided" Petroglyphs made by the Jornada Mogollon people of prehistoric New Mexico

There’s no doubt we live in troubled times. With wars and recessions and changing climates and hostile politics and all the other turbulence, it’s easy to feel things are worse than ever before. Pop culture is currently full of references to the fact that the Mayan calendar ends at 2012, portending what some believe may be the end of the world. Apocalypse movies are back in vogue.

"The People Were Here" at Three Rivers Petroglyph Site. Ironically, the site is located in a basin with the infamous Trinity nuclear test site over the other side of the mountain range

I find comfort in history. Taking the long view helps keep things in perspective. This certainly isn’t the worst of times, nor is it the end of time. Mankind has faced challenges throughout our existence (black plague anyone?) and looking at the lives of the ancients reminds me that our problems aren’t insurmountable. As a history buff and a photographer, I’m fascinated by the places where ancient peoples still talk to us. Seeing the mounds, markings, and structures they built helps me feel part of a long continuum — reminds me my earth-shattering problems aren’t so bad in the big picture.

Ancient cultures were often wise, resourceful, creative, and very much in tune with their environments. They were also often superstitious, crude, violent, biased, warlike, and myopic. In short, they were just humans like us. Yet amazingly they found ways to survive, thrive and even flourish. We will too. Hopefully we’ll leave behind something as beautiful and awe-inspiring as some of them did.

See more of my photographs at www.keithdotson.com.

Crumbling boundary walls at Tulum, Mexico

Hand-painted murals still communicate to us today, hundreds of years after the disuse of this ancient site.

A flare for the dramatic: Ancient peoples certainly knew how to select dramatic locations for the significant sites. This is Tulum, a Mayan site located on the Gulf coast of Mexico.

A cone mound at the massive Cahokia Mound Site, in southwestern Illinois near St. Louis.

BEIJING — When the apocalypse comes, China will save the world.

Or at least that’s how Chinese audiences are interpreting “2012,” Hollywood’s latest blockbuster disaster movie.

“It’s about time the world sees us as a dominant ally,” says Liu Xinliang, 27, a Beijing computer programmer who watched the movie twice.

In the nearly 3-hour movie, which opened Nov. 13 in China, Earth’s core overheats, threatening humanity. Leaders of the world embark on a mission to build an ark in the mountains of central China to hold people and animals that can repopulate the planet.

Liu grinned as he watched Chinese troops escort wealthy and important citizens onto the ark.

Chinese netizens on popular blogs have been quick to note other scenes perceived as having pro-China messages: Chinese military officers saluting American refugees entering China, China being one of the first nations to agree to open the ark’s gates to admit more refugees, a U.S. military officer saying that only the Chinese could build an ark of such size so quickly.

“I felt really proud to be Chinese as I was watching our (military) officers rescue civilians in need,” says Zhang Ying, 26, an advertising executive in Beijing. “The movie … made me realize that China has become a respected country on the world stage.”

Chinese audiences are used to seeing negative Hollywood portrayals of the communist nation. In “Red Corner,” starring Richard Gere, an innocent foreigner faces a corrupt Chinese legal system. Martin Scorsese’s “Kundun” highlights China’s rule of Tibet.

Scenes with Chinese bad guys were cut from “Mission Impossible III,” and Warner Bros. decided not to release its hit 2008 blockbuster, “The Dark Knight,” in China because of “cultural sensitivities.” The latest Batman movie sees the masked hero nab a Chinese criminal in Hong Kong.

As China’s economy continues to expand, Hollywood has set its sights on the nation of 1.3 billion, though it can share profits on only up to 20 releases every year. That makes it crucial for studios to reap as much as they can with each movie.

“China has a legitimate movie market that’s growing, but Hollywood is learning that movies portraying us as poor or the enemy will not make money in China,” says Shen Dingli, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

It is unclear whether “2012″ director Roland Emmerich intentionally inserted the China element into his movie to gain wider viewership in the country.

Steve Elzer, a spokesman for Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, declined to comment on the China element or whether any scenes were cut from the movie.

BY CHI-CHI ZHANG
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Do we feel fine? Since this Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent, we (along with most of the Church Universal) will be examining that topic as we look at Luke 21:25-36. Since it’s my favorite R.E.M. song, and the best “list song” this side of Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” now is a good time to link to a nice live version. I don’t know what the end of the world has to do with Leonard Bernstein, Lenny Bruce, Lester Bangs, or Leonid Brezhnev, but who cares? What a great song!

Seriously, how do pop-culture images of the end of the world (here’s one recent and popular example) compare and contrast with our Christian hope? The Bible, after all, doesn’t teach simply the end of the world, but the end of the world as we know it. That distinction means everything.

Finally, wanna know what the worst “list song” ever is? Well, here’s a very funny parody of it for you “Office” fans out there.

Yep, Sarah’s 2012 presidential tour showed up here yesterday in the form of a book signing. People came to Orlando and  The Villages, a ’senior’ village where the conservative fires are stoked for their flame — Savior Sarah.
I can only express that the guy in the picture says it all, and I won’t blame the seniors having senior moments, (heck, I’m one), but, it’s anyone younger than 55 – don’t they even recall how they felt when Bush was the conservative they were all waiting for? He gave them Promises Promises, torture, debt, recession and going to war with God’s blessings – why are these conservatives so mesmerized by lack of substance in another empty $150,000 suit?

Last Sunday I went with my friend, Aaron, and watched the disaster movie 2012. The movie theater was packed which surprised me. I thought everybody would be at the Twilight movie that opened that weekend. By the closing credits of 2012, I am sure everyone wished they had made that choice.

Loosely based on the Mayan prophecies that the world will end on 2012, the movie exploits that premise. It does not do a good job of really delving into the prophecies themselves but simply references them  like an excuse to continue on with the plot.

What a plot it was! It was painful  to watch it unfold on screen.  I could not buy its plausibility even in the Willy Wonka world of imagination.  It was based on the increase in solar flare activity and planet alignment, which affected the melting of the earth’s core.  I know that was a movie spoiler but frankly who cares….the movie was so bad…it does not ruin anything with that reveal.

Why did one of my favorite actors, John Cusack, do this movie?  He must have needed the cash.  He tried to show that he cared and get into his character.  I just don’t think he bought it. It showed in his performance.

I found myself not really caring if his character or his family or anyone else survived the destruction.  In moments of terror onscreen, I found myself laughing out loud because it was so stupid.  Also, I agree with Aaron when he pointed out all the music that was played to try to direct our emotion. It did not work.

Now the only redeeming factor of the movie, were the special effects. It was like a visual orgy of disasters gone wild.  It was like taking every disaster movie in history and shaking them up together and exploding them into the screen.  They should take the disaster action sequences and make a Disney ride out of it.

Adam Lambert’s song “Time For Miracles” plays during the closing credits.  I am afraid nothing miraculous could save this movie from its disastrous awfulness.

I’ve always though the Big Brother artificial reality shows were daft, but finally, here they are in a context I can appreciate. The Brits have done a gorgeous job of setting up a bunch of BB cast and crew (some real, such as host Davina McCall) caught up in a zombie apocalypse in Dead Set. It’s gritty, visceral viewing, well crafted and superbly acted, and very clever. And in true British fashion, short and sweet and to the point. Tasty indeed! Here’s a trailer.

2012 Apocalyptic -

We created a news feature based on the 2012 end of the world prophecy. Check it out. Feel free to leave comments with questions that can either be answered from our research or about our methods of production.

Cheers!

-Sports Chutney

Apocalyptic – 2012 News Feature from Dan Rowinski on Vimeo.

In honor of the upcoming holiday, I thought it only appropriate to write a post about the people in my life whom I’m thankful for.

And then I thought no one is going to want to read anything so boring. (Does anyone read these ramblings of mine anyway?)

So instead of detailing how I’m thankful for my wonderful husband, my family, my friends (those in IRL and in my virtual world), and all the good things that have transpired over the years, I’m dedicating this post to someone who will likely never know the influence he had on me: Mr. Baker.

Mr. Baker was my eleventh grade English teacher, and the person who is responsible for me first penning a work of fiction. You see, up until eleventh grade English, I’d never written a single story. Nor did I ever consider that I might have an aptitude for anything related to English class. Much as I loved reading, English was so not my strength.

But Mr. Baker, whether the curriculum dictated it or it was his own insidious plan, was determined to teach us how to write. And write we did in many styles, including narrative non-fiction and short stories. He gave out awards, based on his own judgment and class feedback, to those who wrote the best pieces for any given assignment. He called them Golden Pens (I suppose these days they’d be called Golden Keyboards – holy crap, I’m old), and hung up the winners’ names around the classroom. I won quite a few of them much to my surprise. It was the first time I’d ever had won praise for anything in English class, and Mr. Baker was the first teacher I ever had who encouraged me to write. Who told me I was good at it.

By age sixteen and not feeling like I was good at anything, that was huge. Can’t emphasize that enough. HUGE.

In fact, not only did Mr. Baker boost my self confidence, he encouraged me to take risks. I knew that in his class I didn’t have to write the typical blah essay response to class assignments. I could be creative, try different writing styles, and make weird leaps in my logic – not just regurgitate my class notes. It might not work, but he didn’t punish me for trying.

It was an odd experience, and one that would have long effects. I’m pretty sure I never would have written another short story if he hadn’t taken the time to offer advice and provide praise. And although I haven’t written another short story since college, nine completed novels later, I still recognize his influence. If one of those novels is ever published, Mr. Baker deserves part of the credit because it would not have happened without him.

So Mr. Baker, I am very thankful to have been placed in your class all those years ago.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Jeff Strain (ex Blizzard/ArenaNet/NCSoft)  made some waves last night, with the announcement of his new MMO studio ‘Undead Labs’. As the name implies, Undead Labs will be focusing on a zombie apocalypse survival MMO for consoles.

“The Seattle, Washington-based studio is “on a mission to take online gaming in bold new directions”, beginning with it’s in development zombie MMO for consoles.” – Source: EDGE Online

They have even gone so far as to reveal some interesting gameplay info:

“”One of the things that is key in [the zombie] genre is really giving players a sense of purpose that is not just kill monsters and level up,” he tells us. “MMO players like to have a home, and that is one of the reasons I’m not going to throw them out into a post apocalyptic world. The goal here is to make them feel like there is a purpose. You’re trying to restart society. You’re trying to reclaim the world. One of the very first goals is going to be to get together with other players and establish a place that you can call your own that you must actively maintain and defend, and that over time will allow you to have a home base that will allow you to restart the economy, start trading with other ‘blue zones’ and feel like you have a home again.” – Source: Destructoid

It’s a cool idea for a game, certainly, but as an MMO? With a subscription? On a console? That just seems crazy.

I could be wrong. Perhaps by the time it releases the gaming landscape will have evolved enough to be more accepting of an idea like this. I hope so, even though I would be forced to sell my soul and buy one of those pathetic little boxes with their silly, awkward controllers.

“Year of comets and meteors transient and strange!—lo! even here, one equally transient and strange!” ~ Walt Whitman

This year, a hale of meteors falls upon us like the retribution of those we’ve wronged, victims of genocide and spousal abuse alike. In Argentina, a man was struck down by a meteorite. It crashed through his ribs, cauterized the wound, killed him on impact. There was no sign of the rock; it had sunk into the earth. The Argentinians and much of the world took it as a message from God, that the man had been smitten.

For the first few seconds we met, all I noticed was her lips. They were full like two moons. I wanted to bite into them and suck whatever juices they held. The thought both repulsed and aroused me. I looked at her eyes and her hair next, and I was sad to find that she was very plain. Her eyes were gray and smooth like washed pebbles. No texture or depth to them at all. Her hair was coarse and unbrushed. The breasts weren’t amazing. If had seen any other part of her, I would have passed her by without another glance, but those lips…

There were cults. Lots of ‘em. As our neighbors drank the Kool-aid, the grape soda, and the Mr. Pibb, we laughed. We all laughed as the world came falling down. What else could we do? It seems like the messenger for catastrophe is always Chicken Little. Sure, the news is terrifying, but who can take the bastard seriously? The smokers, the drinkers, they all killed themselves slowly, while the “sane” ones bit the bullet faster than an Ethiopian sprinter with a jet pack.

She looked burned out, like she’d been running around all her life and finally had the chance to stop. The dust kicked up behind her where she walked as if some small hammer had just beat itself into the Earth. “Was that a–” I started. She only smiled, pushing those reluctant lips deeper into her cheeks. I must have been seeing things, getting all hysterical over nothing.

We watched the religious wars on the T.V. Christians and Jews shot at Muslims. Muslims shot back. There was nothing different about them from before, except now people were shooting each other over whose interpretation of the apocalypse was correct. It was just an excuse, like everything else. All they ever wanted to do was shoot at each other.

When she leaned in to kiss me, my breath caught. I’d always closed my eyes before when I kissed a girl–it just seemed polite–but with her I kept them wide open. She must have sensed I was looking at her because she opened her eyes too. Those eyes, that had looked so bland before, were burning. I could see the burning trees falling onto burning people running into burning houses. I pushed her away. Her laughter split her perfect lips in two, exposing the hard, stained teeth beneath. I backed away and I’m glad I did. A meteor the size of a Buick flew out of the sky and swallowed her up. The aftershock broke my ankle and knocked the breath out of me.

When the year of the meteors had ended, everyone had their stories, their physical and emotional scars. Bridget’s poodle mix–yappy little shit–went up in smoke while she was taking it for a walk. Doug la Pier’s death shook everyone in town when one rock took him right in the head while he was passed out on his couch. None of the drunks crashed on the couch after that. Instead of kicking their husbands out, wives held their men closer. Everyone had a story after that year. But even in the midst of all that craziness, I wasn’t sure if my story was even real at all. I kept it to myself.

A taxonomy of terror?

Yes, again with the apocalyptic and/or dystopic pics and books. Blame a conversation with my friend, S.

So, to categorize:

Apocalypse
I. Caused by:
A. Collapse
i. slow-motion
ii. sudden
B. Violence
i. natural
a. arising from natural forces
b. arising from altered nature
ii. inflicted
a. by humans
b. by non-humans
c. by supernatural forces

II. Threatened:
A. Avoidable
i. due to intervention by many
ii. due to intervention by few [n.b. S. doesn’t think this should count]
iii. due to supernatural intervention
iv. due to luck
B. Unavoidable
i. due to luck
ii. predestined

III. Post-apocalypse (SEE ALSO: Dystopia]
A. Immediately post-
i. happy-to-have-survived
ii. continued survival uncertain
B. Intermediate post-
i. reconstruction begun
ii. further collapse
C. Long-term post-
i. reconstruction complete
a. society similar to pre-apocalypse
b. society better than pre-
c. society worse than pre-
d. society different from pre-
ii. reconstruction amidst chaos
iii. chaos
iv. no life

(Crap. I’ve GOT to learn html so I can space all this stuff correctly. But you get the idea.)

Tomorrow (or, you know, whenever): Dystopia

No one blows up the world with quite the same aplomb as Roland Emmerich. Whether it’s aliens decimating our major cities in Independence Day or global warming burying the statue of liberty nipple-deep in snow, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Emmerich regards being filmmaker as something akin to a six year-old with a massive set of LEGOS. Sure you can build stuff, but the real fun is smashing it. His unique talent is melding this sensibility with storytelling talent just mediocre enough to keep the audience from emotionally-connecting with the world he presents onscreen. If he were a better filmmaker, we might feel a moment of dread at watching the wanton devastation unfold before us. Thankfully for us all, he’s not. This was a liability in his last film, 10,000 BC, in which he was called upon to, you know, tell a story. Instead he ended up meandering through a bunch of half-baked ideas, while expecting us to care about his characters (never a strong point in a Roland Emmerich movie),  and in the process did to history what Roman Polanski did to that 13 year-old girl in Jack Nicholson’s hot tub. With 2012, he is back where he belongs: using the spectacle of destroying everything in sight to distract us from the annoying characters that populate the movie.

2012 takes its title from the belief that the Mayans predicted that the world will end in December of 2012. Of course, that reading of Mayan calendar is by-and-large bunk, but whack-job conspiracy theorists still believe it (society having aged out of the whole “moon landing was a hoax” thing). Anyway, the Mayans do not really factor into the movie apocalypse that unfolds in 2012, and if I have one regret about this movie, that would be it. I was really hoping for some cool tie-in to the ancient Mayans—maybe the end of the world was brought about by rampaging Quetzalycoatls or an enormous Olmec head. No dice. Emmerich basically ditches the Mayan thing for a planetary alignment which causes the sun to create mutated neutrinos which superheat the Earth’s core and cause the crust to become unmoored. Tell me you wouldn’t rather see the Quetzalycoatls now.

Anyway, the movie mostly follows two separate plotlines: in one Chiwetal Ejiofor plays the National Geology Advisor (*skicker*) to the President  (Danny Glover), and warns of the impending disaster. He then assists them with the preparations for continuity of governance in the aftermath of the end of the world (this is a real optimistic administration). The other plotline sees John Cusack—who falls ass-backward into the knowledge of the upcoming endtimes—trying to rescue his estranged wife Kate (Amanda Peet), her new husband Gordon (Tom McCarthy) and their children (who cares). This involves utilizing Gordon’s sub-par piloting skills and turboprop they stole from a wrecked airport. It also involves a lot of last-minute take-offs in which the little plane must outrun a crumbling runway and dodge falling debris. They do this, like, eight times.

But along with those two main plots, we also have (in no particular order):

*  First Daughter Thandie Newton attempting to preserve the world’s great works of art

* The blossoming romance between Ejiofor and Newton.

*  Ejiofor’s jazz-musician father stuck on a luxury cruise ship playing a gig when the disaster hits. Mostly, this shows us what it looks like when a big cruise ship capsizes (and what it looks like: pretty cool!)

*  His buddy and musical partner (George Segal) trying to reconnect with his son, whom he hasn’t spoken to since the kid married a Japanese woman (apparently, in Segal’s world it’s still 1943)

* Cusack’s attempts to reconnect with his children, who seem to prefer Gordon to him (his efforts are ultimately successful when he repeatedly saves their lives, and Gordon is ground up in the gears of a massive ship).    

* Cusack’s daughter’s efforts to overcome her bedwetting (seems like a relatively minor thing in the face of the end of the world, but hey, I’m not a parent).

The plotlines converge in Himalayas, where the world governments have built a fleet (well, three) ships to carry a couple hundred thousand people to safety, as well as various and sundry animals to repopulate the Earth (we’re treated to shots of giraffes being airlifted, which are simply glorious is their sheer absurdity—and what the hell would you need giraffes for, anyway? Wouldn’t cows be a little more helpful?) This leads to much sturm und drang over who gets onto the ships and why. Seems the government sold seats to billionaires and Ejiofor feels real bad about that and so does Newton, and the movie takes a whole populist tone. Of course, by this time most of the world is destroyed, so their bold stance is mostly moot. Emmerich isn’t real good at pretending to care about people.

But the movie’s big draw is its scenes of unmitigated carnage, and lemme tell you: they do not disappoint. California sinks into the sea (hah!). Vegas is swallowed by the Earth (holy crap, the Bible-thumpers were right!). And Washington DC is swept away by a massive tsunami, which dumps the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy onto the White House (I’m tempted to call this a bit of editorializing against massive defense spending, but really, it’s probably just Emmerich’s love of smashing things into each other.) This is a movie that must be seen on the big screen. You cannot fully appreciate the details (like tiny CGI people dangling off of collapsing buildings) unless it is seen on the big screen. Also, I give Emmerich mad props for sparing us the site of New York being destroyed and, instead seizing upon the potential of so many other cities to be decimated (hey, the Vatican just squashed a bunch of praying Catholics! Awesome!).

Of course the character scenes are dumb enough to make my eyes glaze over, but you just run out for popcorn during those. Or nap. It’s a long movie, you need your rest. The first time something blows up, the Dolby BOOM! will wake you up. Or you can mentally write love letters to Thandie Newton, who—let’s face it—you really want heavily donating her genes into the pool to repopulate the Earth.  

Still, I can’t help but think all of this could have been improved by a Quetzalcoatl or two.

Ragnarok, also known as Gotterdammerung, will begin when the god Skoll devours the sun and plunges the world into darkness. The Midgard Serpent, Jormungand, will rise from the depths and bring waves crashing down across the land, while the Giants set sail for battle with Hymir as their lord. Loki will lead the warriors of hell from the underworld, followed by the Fire Giant Surt wielding his mighty blazing sword. Against these legions of darkness, Heimdall, the guardian of Bifrost, will sound the great horn Gjallar, calling Odin, the Gods of Asgard, and the Heroes of Valhalla to the final battle. And so it will be, at the End of Days.

Also, bear in mind that the Norse Gods really know how to party, so don’t be surprised if Thor drops by your Doomsday celebration to grab a cold one on his way to lay the hammer on Jormungand (and even if he doesn’t, be sure to set a 6-pack aside in his honor).

I love reading embedded critiques of “hipsters” and this so-called movement you can’t avoid if you’re 20-something and in a major North American city. (For the record, I’m not discrediting the rest of the world, I’m just admitting solidarity with Portland, OR.) Hipsters have been called nihilists, shamelessly turning inward and backward and not creating anything new. I would like to argue with and support this at the same time by pointing out that the music hipsters love, Independant Rock, is doing something magnificently new! They’re writing love song after love song set during or after the apocalypse!

That’s kind of twisted, isn’t it? It seems like I might be exaggerating a little, doesn’t it? Well, I’m hardly an expert, but here are a few for the record. (Please feel free to link me to more examples or arguments in the comments, I do believe that’s what they’re for.)

I had to include the Postal Service to prove to you that it’s not just the Canadians falling in love with the apocalypse like this.

So what do we call this syndrome? Apocophilia? Erotipocalypse? Armageddiniton?

..I’m sorry for that last one, I had to. Any other suggestions?

The East Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass for the last three years, according to an analysis of data from a gravity-measuring satellite mission.

Dead Air

Yep, it’s again something with infection, zombies, dead and so on. I thought the idea on this one was totally new.

DJ and talkmaster Logan Burnhardt (Bill Moseley) hits the mic every night around 8 o’clock and gets around a million listeners. Accepting his audience to tell them their problems. But on that night, a bio attack has hit every big sport event in all of the bigger cities of the U.S. After receiving disturbing calls by people telling him, that their being attacked by other folks and bitten, Logan tries to stay on air all night, for most of the other stations had switched to emergency broadcasts. With his ex-wife Lucy (Patricia Tallman) he holds up at the radio station and gets  live reports from his listeners.

What’s special about this movie is that Bill Moseley and Patricia Tallman last acted together on Tom Savini’s “Night Of The Living Dead Remake” nineteen years ago. And again after all these years they come together again in a zombie flick.

The movie itself, is simple, still interesting, but in the end another zombie B-movie.

Similar movies: Pontypool, Night Of The Living Dead `90

Carriers

In Times like these, we live in. We are surrounded by lethal viruses (H1N1). Also recognized by the  film industry. And that’s why there were a lot of post apocalyptic / worlds end movies made in the couple past years. “Carriers” is one of these.

4 people, driving around the country, full of infected or dead people. On their way to the beach, the two brother’s, Brian and Danny  and two female friends try to outrun the wide spreaded infection. As one by one get’s in contact with the disease, their chances of survival is swindling.

This isn’t another zombie apocalypse. It’s really a damn realistic story, that could happen anywhere, anytime. The infected won’t run, bite or spit any blood. Their just dead. But everything is breaking down in society, and sooner or later, you kill to survive.

I thought this movie was really refreshing. It’s no big budget, but a solid story driven film.

Similar movies: The Signal, Outbreak