Free-thinking YouTuber TheraminTrees created this brilliant metaphoric animation, which really resonates with my own personal experience:

I like TheraminTrees' use of speech bubbles, especially when the dad's bubble silences the kid.

The cupboard metaphor works quite nicely, especially the part when the kid follows the exact word of the "instruction manual" only to discover he's built something unbalanced and dysfunctional. Clearly, people pick and choose instructions from their manuals (scriptures) to construct cabinets (world-views/moralities) that are most practical for their own needs, and yet they pass judgment against others who find different interpretations from the same manual or follow a different manual altogether.

What a wonderfully diverse the world would be if everyone chose to build their cupboards according to universal design fundamentals and were free to express themselves adorn their cupboards with their own personal decoration?! I chose long ago to put my Bible (and its antiquated rules) away and to instead live my life according to the fundamental "Golden Rule" of reciprocity (which is universal to all major religions and has been the foundation of ethics long before Jesus said "love thy neighbor").

Link: http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/9/

Right about this time two years ago, in December 2006, I was packing up to move to Luxembourg City for a few months to continue working on Shane Acker's feature film "9", based on his Oscar-nominated short. Then a year later, in January 2008, I was following Shane again, this time to Toronto, for a few more months of production before I finally finished my role as production-assistant-turned-technical-coordinator-turned-assistant-editor in February 2008. All totaled, the production took me to 4 cities, 3 countries and 2 continents, and now after over 2 years of trying to explain the film to curious friends and family, I can answer people's questions about the film by telling them simply to "check out the trailer..."

So stop reading this and go, check out the trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/9/

Current mood:
Super-fantastically excited

Jon Stewart's guest on The Daily Show last night (Tuesday Dec 09, 2008) was former Arkansas Governor and failed Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. During the 2008 primaries, the affable Huckabee was a frequent guest on both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, where the Huckster was usually allowed to shamelessly self-promote his Christian Conservative dogma without much challenge from the hosts (Colbert even gave Huckabee the "Corbert Bump") but last night Jon Stewart really took Mike to task on the issue of gay marriage, which Huckabee opposes.

My favorite moment came about 4 minutes into the second part of the interview (video below) when Jon Stewart noted:

Religion is far more of a choice than homosexuality. And the protections that we have, for religion --we protect religion-- and talk about a lifestyle choice! That is absolutely a choice. Gay people don't choose to be gay.

Huckabee had no retort to Jon's point nor did have have any answer when Jon asked him:

At what age did you choose not to be gay?

Amen, Jon!

Boing Boing posted a link to this video from current.com

I love love love this type of animation and it perfectly compliments John Lennon's meandering message of peace.

In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview. This was in the midst of Lennon's "bed-in" phase, during which John and Yoko were staying in hotel beds in an effort to promote peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon's every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries traditional pen sketches by James Braithwaite with digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon's boundless wit, and timeless message.

A star-studded cast turns out for Marc Shaiman's "Prop 8 - The Musical" from FunnyOrDie.com.

This musical not only exposes the hypocrisy of homophobic Bible-thumpers who "pick-and-choose" which verses to obey, but it also makes an economic argument in favor of gay marriage.

It stars John C. Reilly, Neil Patrick Harris, Andy Richter, Margaret Cho, Rashida Jones, Sarah Chalke, Maya Rudolph, Craig Robinson, and Jack Black as "Jesus H. Tap-dancing Christ."

Also starring Jordan Ballard, Barrett Foa, J.B. Ghuman, John Hill, Rashad Naylor, Nicole Parker, Allison Janney, Kathy Najimy, Jenifer Lewis, Lake Bell, Katharine "Kooks" Leonard, Seth Morris, Denise "Esi!" Piane, Lucian Piane, Richard Read, Seth Redford, Quinton Strack, Tate Taylor

"Abomination!"... "Obama Nation!"