A Breath of Freshair

2011-09-01T00:56:00.000-07:00

Inception and the Minotaur

What most of you know is that Inception is an amazing movie that deals with our dreams and how they could be manipulated. It deals what we perceive as reality and whether or not what we see in front of us is real. This is just on the surface though, as you look deeper into the narrative and story you could see underlying “components” that not only drive the story but make it that much more engrossing. One of these “components” is the similarities it has with the Greek myth, Theseus and the Minotaur. Basically the story of the Minotaur is about how Theseus must go inside King Minos’ labyrinth and slay the mighty Minotaur (Man/Bull). Before he could actually go inside the labyrinth the king’s daughter Ariadne immediately fall in love with him and is advise by the architect who built the maze, Daedalus, to help him by giving him thread and a sword. He eventually makes it to the middle of the labyrinth and slays the Minotaur and finds his way out of the labyrinth with the help of Ariadne’s thread.

Dominic Cobb plays the part of Theseus and Daedalus in Inception because he is the one who goes into the deepest part of the labyrinth, Limbo. Over the next 50 years he and Mal, his wife, created a city that they could control, changing the way it looked at the drop of a hat. They were the gods; they were the king and queen to their own personal Athens. This is where Mal begins her transformation into the Minotaur. In the myth the Minotaur is created when Poseidon curses Queen Pasiphae with uncontrollable lust for a white bull that he sent by Poseidon. In a way the idea that Cobb puts in Mal’s head, is the white bull. This idea he plants consumes her mind in not only the dream world, but in the real world as well. This idea forces her into believing that their world isn’t real and that the only way to “wake up” is to commit suicide. The guilt Cobb feels for the death of his wife is what completes her transformation into the Minotaur. He feels this guilt because he promised her that they would grow old together. This guilt transforms her into a being that occupies every dream he enters and puts whoever he goes into the dreams with in danger.

The biggest similarity between Theseus’ story and Inception is the name Ariadne. Ariadne plays a huge role in helping the protagonist in either story. In the Minotaur Ariadne is gives Theseus the thread and sword. In Inception Ariadne not only acts as the architect who builds the labyrinth’s inside the dreams, but is the thread as well. In Inception Ariadne isn’t driven by love to help Cobb, but it seems like that she’s driven by her own curiosity and empathy she feels for Cobb. This curiosity allows her to follow Cobb into the deepest parts of his dreams and memories. She is the only one aside from Cobb himself that truly knows what he is going through.

Throughout the movie Ariadne is always can be seen beside Cobb at some of the movie’s crucial points, much like the thread tied to Theseus’ belt. This simile becomes true when she follows him to limbo to not only find Saito and Fischer but instead confronts his Minotaur, Mal. At this point of the story we find out that Ariadne also plays the part of the sword. In my opinion Ariadne plays the most important part in both stories. She is the one who gives Theseus the weapon he uses to kill the Minotaur, and gives him the thread to find his way back. She is also the one who shoots Mal and helps Cobb realize that he had fulfilled his promise of them growing old together and having the life that they had, literally, dreamed of. This realization is what allows him find his way back after finding Saito.

All these similarities that I have pointed out between Inception and the story of the Minotaur, lead me to believe that this movie is a modern day retelling of the ancient myth. I understand that there are probably a ton of people who thought of the same thing when they watched the movie, but I thought this blog entry would be fun to do because it allows me to re-watch the movie and catch up on a little bit of Greek mythology. I wasn’t trying to interpret whether the whole movie was a dream or not. I believe that the ending was left that way so the audience could create their own version of the story. Every time you watch this movie you notice little things that either reinforces your theory or makes you rethink it. I’m not going to tell you my opinion because to be honest I can’t make up my mind of it, all I know is that it’s a great fucking movie.

30 Day Movie Challenge

2011-08-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry for not posting sooner, I've been too busy living it up summer style. I hope everybody has enjoyed it while it lasted. Well back to the bump and grind of online blogging. I StumbleUpon this article a while back and wanted to post but was just too lazy. If you don't know what stumbleupon is, it's a site that picks a randomly selected site that pertains to your interests and is pretty damn awesome. Anyways back to what I was talking about, I stumbled onto this article that allows you to pick 30 movies for each day of the month.

Day 01- The best movie you saw during the last year

Day 02 – The most underrated movie

Day 03 – A movie that makes you really happy

Day 04 – A movie that makes you sad

Day 05 – Favorite love story in a movie

Day 06 – Favorite made for TV movie

Day 07 – The most surprising plot twist or ending

Day 08 – A movie that you’ve seen countless times

Day 09 – A movie with the best soundtrack

Day 10 – Favorite classic movie

Day 11 – A movie that changed your opinion about something

Day 12 – A movie that you hate

Day 13 – A movie that is a guilty pleasure

Day 14 – A movie that no one would expect you to love

Day 15 – A character who you can relate to the most

Day 16 – A movie that you used to love but now hate

Day 17 – A movie that disappointed you the most

Day 18 – A movie that you wish more people would’ve seen

Day 19 – Favorite movie based on a book/comic/etc.

Day 20 – Favorite movie from your favorite actor/actress

Day 21 – Favorite action movie

Day 22 – Favorite documentary

Day 23 – Favorite animation

Day 24 – That one awesome movie idea that still hasn’t been done yet

Day 25 – The most hilarious movie you’ve ever seen

Day 26 – A movie that you love but everyone else hates

Day 27 – A movie that you wish you had seen in theaters

Day 28 – Favorite movie from your favorite director

Day 29 – A movie from your childhood

Day 30 – Your favorite movie of all time

As you can see it ranges from Favorite move of all time to movie that disappointed you the most. I'll be sharing mine with you guys as well because I've been dying to try this out as well.

Day 1 - Best movie you saw during the last year: Up in The Air was a movie that I had no expectations for when I watched it but realized that it was a great movie about half way through.

Day 2 - The Most Underrated Movie: The Prestige has Batman and Wolverine as the lead roles.

Day 3 - A movie that makes you happy: Toy Story 3, Nostalgia is best when it's naked.

Day 4 - A movie that makes you sad: The Pianist, Adrien Brody is a great actor.

Day 5 - Favorite love story in a movie: Gary and Lisa in Team America. Nothing likes puppets to convey the true feelings of people.

Day 6 - Favorite made for TV movie: Sharktopus is probably the greatest concept for a film.

Day 7 - The most surprising plot twist or ending: Fight Club, I'm not going to spoil it because it's great.

Day 8 - A movie you've seen countless times: Old School

Day 9- A movie with the best soundtrack: Across the Universe.

Day 10 - Favorite Classic Movie - If Scarface isn't a classic movie then I don't know what is.

Day 11 - A movie that changed your opinion about something: The Cove, great documentary about japan dolphin hunting culture.

Day 12 - A movie you hate: Miami Vice.

Day 13 - A movie that is a guilty pleasure: Mean girls, Tina Fey is a comedic genius.

Day 14 - A movie that no one would expect you to love: Annie, the sun always comes out tomorrow.

Day 15 - A character you can relate to the most: Tonto from the Lone Ranger.

Day 16 - A movie you used to love but now hate: Nightmare on Elm Street.

Day 17 - A movie that disappointed you the most: Any movie with a 3 in it.

Day 18 - A movie you wish more people would've seen: Clerks

Day 19 - Favorite movie based on a book/comic/etc.: Shawshank Redemption

Day 20 - Favorite movie from your favorite actor/actress: tie between Edward Norton in Primal Fear and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Brick

Day 21 - Favorite action movie: The Rundown, The Rock kills it.

Day 22 - Favorite Documentary: The Cove.

Day 23 - Favorite Animation: Toy Story.

Day 24 - That one awesome movie idea that nobody has done yet: A good fantastic four movie.

Day 25 - The most hilarious movie you've ever seen: Dumb & Dumber.

Day 26 - A movie that you love but everybody else hates: G.I Joe

Day 27 - A movie you wish you had seen in theaters: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2

Day 28 - Favorite movie from your favorite director: The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan

Day 29 - A movie from your childhood: Mighty Ducks

Day 30 - Favorite movie of all time: Shawshank Redemption

I hope you guys enjoyed my list here and I urge you to create your own list because it's fun and you have nothing better to do.

2011-07-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

January 22, 2027: Dr. Hagiru Sato and his team of scientists from Japan, America, Canada, and Britain begin work on a matter-energy transference machine.

February 11th, 2033: First machine is tested successfully after over a hundred failed tests. Controversy over the destructive nature of the technology ignites.

July 18th, 2033: A catastrophic incident with an energy-matter machine destroys the city of Hiroshima, in devastation not seen since the atomic bombs were dropped nearly 90 years prior. Japanese government officials move to ban work on this technology, though Western powers urge them to allow it, despite the mishap.

April 22, 2035: First sighting of infected individuals. Most are animals; some humans are also shown to be susceptible to infection. Most seen around the ruins of Hiroshima, which had not been rebuilt.

May 13th, 2035: Northern Japan is split off from its southern half as a nation-wide quarantine is enacted. Anarchy soon spreads through the infected regions. 15% of humans exposed to the disease are immune and show no side effects. 84.9% are affected fatally by the disease, which causes cancerous growths. 0.1% of those exposed are shown to successfully mutate. The "virus" is found to be a spreadable corruption of genetic material, which causes rapid mutations in infected individuals. All large animal life is soon infected.

January 1, 2040: 98% of all animals in Japan are wiped out; ecosystems ruled entirely by infected individuals.

May 8th, 2048: Japanese Defence Force engages infected individuals to preserve quarantine. Co-ordinated attacks by infected humans and animals are seen. High levels of intelligence confirmed.

May 10th: They fail, and the nation of Japan ceases to exist.

October 13: The United States Carrier George W. Bush is attacked and sunk by an unknown force. Later revealed to be a co-ordinated assault by the infected. Use of atomic weapons to destroy all life on Japan considered, but denied.

February 12, 2052: Remaining inhabitants of Japan have appeared, by outward observers, to have begun adopting the infected into their religions. Part of this religion is a total-weapons ban, and the banning of violence against infected individuals. This is surprisingly effective at ceasing conflict with infected individuals.

April 2, 2055: Infected seen to have spread to North America. Military preparedness results in a far more contained infection. Hundreds of thousands in the United States, Canada, and Mexico die.

March 11, 2061: The United States Army begins experimenting with the combat prowess of infected animals, who are shown to have a friendly connection to humans who treat them well, much like dogs. Initial tests exceed expectations. Later that same year, China, Russia, Vietnam, and N. Korea react by signing the Kommu Pact, ensuring protection against the now utterly overpowered West.

July 2, 2063: The Kommu alliance declares war on the United States. Infected used to great effect.

November 9, 2066: The war ends. Communist states are dissolved, China and Russia (and all of Asia) are now under the jurisdiction of the NATO.

December 25th, 2072: The now divided regions that were once Japan begin to open up to the outside world. Mostly through scientific trade-off.

February 1, 2081: Japanese scientists sneak into heavily infected Brazil. They recover the DNA of one of the individuals believed to be one of the first infected.
Beliefs are that the infected are actually the next phase in evolution, and to find one of the originals would better help their understanding. There are many tried and failed cloning attempts, before a final experiment is successful. The result of this experiment, capable of self-induced energy-matter transference, is responsible for the death of dozens before escaping.

May 22, 2081: Ash Ketchum turns 10 years old.

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The time

2011-06-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

My friends and I had come up with a plan to ditch school early. What can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time. We went to our neighbourhood corner store and stole snack for the whole day. The dude running the place wasn’t happy and called the cops. What can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time. We ditched that scene and went back to my buddy’s house to smoke weed and eat our snacks because his mom was at work during the day. What can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time. We slept for a couple of hours and when everybody had woken up we headed to mall to see what was what. Everybody was out of school by then it would be jam packed with kids we knew. What can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time. We tried running our game on girls we thought were pretty good looking but got turned down. We started berating them for not wanting to be with us. What can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time. We soon grew tired of getting turned down so we just walked around the mall looking for someone else to harass. We found one of our classmates that everybody picks on. We made him cry and he swore that he would tell his uncle but we just laughed at him. What can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time. We decided to go to the playground outside our school. We were bored so we decided to play some basketball. What can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time. A couple of guys who were up to no good started making trouble in the neighbourhood. I got into on little fight and my mom got scared and said ‘you’re movin’ in with your auntie and uncle in bel-air’, but what can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I'm Tired

2011-06-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

Sometime I wonder if I hadn’t met my friends. Would my life be so different? Would I have a home instead of wandering from town to town, city to city? I’ve spent the latter part of the 13 years that I’ve spent with my friends asking myself these questions. I wonder if this is what happens when one approaches seniority? That’s a lie; I’m definitely old by most people standard. My so called friends (male and female, if you were curious) are at least 30 years my junior. This is most likely the reason why they make me the butt of all their jokes, but what can I do I’m stuck with them. We’ve done many things that I can honestly say that I regret doing. I’m not going to bother telling you things that make me feel ashamed about myself. However, I will tell you that we’ve harassed children and have stolen expensive equipment for our “higher ups”. When I was younger I enjoyed doing these things because I thought it would get me somewhere. I thought I would be the one giving out orders to scrubs who don’t mind doing what they’re told. I feel that my age and experience more than qualifies me to be much higher up in this organization. I call it an organization because gangs are for people with no aim or goal other than causing havoc. Organizations have a goal that they set out to achieve whether it be monopoly, Drug trafficking, prostitution or, for the truly insane, world domination. I’m tired of pretending that the jokes directed at me are humorous when inside of me a fire blazes that’s just begging to explode. If I wasn’t born with a horseshoe in my butt I would most likely be dead. My colleagues and I have gotten into situations that drug-fuelled teenagers wouldn’t attempt. If I may quote Roger Murtaugh from lethal weapon “I’m too old for this shit!” I’m tired of attempting to steal from teenagers; I’m tired of harassing nurses; I’m tired of running from female cops; and most importantly I’m tired of yelling “looks like Team Rocket Is Blasting Off Again!!!”

2011-05-31T08:06:00.000-07:00

Your one and only is competing for a chance to win a job at the comedy network and needs your help. All you have to do is like my tweet on why they should hire me. here's the link http://bestjob.thecomedynetwork.ca/?page=1

find my name under freshair_04 and like! like! like!

also feel free to follow me on twitter @freshair_04

I promise it will be worth your while

2011-05-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

Almost everybody in this crazy world of ours has heard of Waldo and his world-wide game of hide and seek. We’ve looked for him while we were waiting in the dentist office, emergency room, funeral home. Everybody asks the question “where’s Waldo? Where’s Waldo? Is he hiding behind the elephant or talking that weird little gnome.” What People rarely ever ask themselves is why is Waldo hiding? Is he looking for something? Or who is Waldo?

Waldo is a mysterious figure if you sit there and think about it. We know next to nothing about him. On the Waldo Wiki Page it states that he comes from the land of Waldos, which is filled with a land filled with Waldos just like him. So this means that the Waldo we saw in the picture of the beach is not the same Waldo that we saw in the picture of the camp site. It also states that he is human and that part might be true. He could have just been a scientist gone mad with due to the cloning that he foolishly tested on himself, and the world government sent him and his clones to a different planet.

It also seems like that this Waldo can travel through time with the help of his magical walking stick. How did he end up finding or creating this mystical piece of lumber that allows him to toy with the time space continuum? I think it is because of this constant zigzagging through time and space that he ripped a hole in it, allowing an “anti-Waldo” or Odlaw to crossover to his plane of existence. This being from the parallel universe is the exact opposite from Waldo, He’s describe as being mean, nasty, loathsome and disgusting. This description could be true or could have been written from the highly biased narrator. Could Odlaw be trying to stop the mad clones of Waldo from using the magic walking stick from being used properly? Or could he be trying to use it for his own selfish gains.

With all this time travel, teleportation and parallel universes, could it be possible that Waldo altered reality so that he may become a god? I say this because Waldo has many followers all over the world and seem to be everywhere he goes. These so called “Waldo Watchers” are always where Waldo seems to he has no shortage of followers in past, present and future. Maybe it is because of these “watchers” that Waldo is constantly hiding or possibly basking in the glory of all those who worship him. Is this why he’s always smiling in those postcards that he’s sending to the narrator? Is the narrator Odlaw? Is he being taunted by Waldo because Waldo has what Odlaw always wanted? We may never know the true intentions of the mythical Waldo but what we do know is he will continue to be the most sought after man in dentist offices all over the globe.

If you want more crazy stories follow me on twitter @freshair_04