Life of Pi

Life of Pi is, at first sight, a fantastic movie with a literally incredible story and visual effects. Upon closer inspection, though, one can see that it is an allegorical critique of religion and its function.

At the beginning of the movie, Pi is drawn to several religions and try to adhere to each of them. His dad, however, has suffered from Polio when he was a child and lost his faith. The guiding force in his life is reason and science. He tries to convince his son in this regard, but to no avail. It is interesting to note that Pi himself says at the end of the movie that it was the skills his father taught him that kept him alive on the rescue boat.

The sea and Pi's journey on the rescue boat represents Pi's life (Thus the title of the movie, "Life of Pi"), with its hardships and challenges. Pi needs religion and fantasy to deal with it, not unlike the motion sickness pills given to the animals in the ship that sunk (Here, we may remember Marx's maxim that religion is "the opium of the masses"). He comes up with a fantastic survival story with a tiger and other animals that would replace what really happened on the boat (His mother murdered by the cook, etc). Let's look at the dialog at the end of the movie closely after Pi tells us both the real account and the fantastic story with animals:

Pi: “...which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?”

Mr. Okamoto: “That’s an interesting question …”

Mr. Chiba: “The story with animals.”

Mr. Okamoto: “Yes. The story with animals is the better story.”

Pi: “Thank you. And so it goes with God.”

Pi here acknowledges that "God's" story (i.e. religion) is usually the better one (just like his "story" with the animals), but it is a story/tale nonetheless... The truth is something completely different and much more unpleasant. Pi says, "I have a story that will make you believe in God." As in: "If you believe in the animal story, you may indeed end up believing in God as well."

War

There was a country weary of war and causalities. The newspapers were concerned:

"If A causes B, and B causes C, does that not mean A causes C?"

Think different?

I like Apple, and their marketing campaigns are usually great. But I am not sure about this one below:

Very controversial, to say the least. Maybe they know something I am missing, who knows...

Bach in Morocco

Today is just another day. That you'll never forget. Introducing Erhan Onal's World Fusion piece "Bach in Morocco," now available on iTunes:

Bach in Morocco - Single - Erhan Onal

For only 99 cents.

Racism of the Beatles

It seems The Beatles had a beef with Turks or had too much drug in their bloodstream (more likely, both). A clever word-play with snapping turtles brought out a mean creature in The Beatles' animated music fantasy film, "Yellow submarine."

The snapping Turks!



They even have a Facebook page dedicated to them:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Snapping-Turks/262652325358

These short, fat meanies wear Fez with curved Arabic shoes and have mustaches associated with Turkish men. One of them eats a little girl’s paper windmill to make her cry. At this point, The Beatles perhaps fortunately run out of racist stereotypes.

You have to ask yourself only one question: bad music is one thing, but in your face racism???

P.S. The Yellow Submarine is free to download on iTunes as a children's book.

How the Gingrich stole the nomination

Newt is the front-runner on national polls, and we don’t have much left until the Iowa caucuses. He reminds me of stained dresses, Macintosh Performa, presidential cigars, Windows 95, the government shutdown, and worse; Grunge music. Is he really the best guy we can muster? I thought the Republican party disliked elitism. This guy is a historian: can you get more elite than that?

If what we needed for president were a professor-like talking head, I would be perfectly fine with the one we have right now. I suspect many will feel the same way when the election date comes. The Republican Party can choose the most conservative candidate on Earth; but if that person is not electable, it means NOTHING, which brings me to another point:

Newt is not even that conservative. He cheated on his wives (plural). He took money from Freddie Mac. He is actually compassionate towards the illegal aliens. His own party kicked him out of Congress. He is anti-global warming, just like Gore.

Mitt Romney needs to make the point that he is the most electable and viable candidate out there. One may think this is easy to do since it is true, but he hasn’t been able to do it yet.

Related video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcM_7ZjX69Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Uncanny

Does anybody else think Mitt Romney looks just like Rudolph Hess?





P.S. Please don't use this against him, I love Mitt to death (refer to my presidential endorsement).