Lord, show me Your way,
When I walk in the gray
Not in darkness, or in light
But the mists of my own sight.

Lord, how can I know
How to walk, and then to grow
In the fog, when I cry out
In the midst of fear and doubt.

Lord, I cannot stand,
Unless You’re with me in this land.
Lest then from Your path I stray
And be found out of Your way.

Lord, here in my storm,
Is little light and less of form.
Let me hear the blessed sound,
In trackless waste, of solid ground.

Lord, faith give to me,
That I may walk this stormy sea.
Let me trust now that Thy arm
Shall protect me from all harm.

Lord, I cannot steer,
My own course, through storms of fear.
Without Your light I soon should fail;
My soul be swamped, unless you bail.

Lord, when I shall guide
My own steps, from this side.
Then I cannot help but sink
‘Neath the waves and o’er the brink.

Lord, I cannot see
What Your will would have of me.
Let me cry, lest I should fall
Thy Word be my all in all.

Lord, please clear mine eyes
Balance all, and let me prize
In my heart Thy Word aright
That I may safe come through this fight.

Lord, now help me fight
Long as I stand within Your light.
Yet when clouds shall cover me
Let not my thoughts stray far from Thee.

Solid truth shall set me free
Bring safe to harbor, near to Thee
Let not me trust my darkened sight
Be thou, my Lord, my perfect light.

This event got me to thinking about the nature of creativity. I would hesitate to use the word “inspired”, because that implies a lot of other things. But this was one of the stranger experiences I’ve had with creativity…usually, I spend some time over a poem, constructing each verse and rhyme–rarely does anything of length come to me fully– (or mostly-) formed. Yet all our creativity stems from God, subcreationally, so should we be surprised when He takes different paths with it?

Note: I don’t have a tune for this, and so if anyone’d like to tackle it, shoot me a message! I did notice while I was writing this post that it fits fairly well with the traditional Celtic tune arranged by the Scottish band Runrig for “One Thing” on their The Stamping Grou

Because these green hills are not Highland hills
Or the island hills, they’re not my land’s hills
And fair as these green foreign hills may be
They’re not the hills of home.

That said, it was an incredible, breathtaking experience…but don’t let me tell you, you can see for yourself!

Highway to the Stars An album from our expe­di­tion up Mount Evans in Colorado, along the breath­tak­ing Highway to the Stars, the high­est paved road in the world. Mount Evans, CO 28 pho­tos

Disney/Pixar’s latest animated odyssey opens to a much bleaker world than the one outside the theater doors. A shell of abandoned satellites rings a wasted Earth mounded in trash and studded with spent nuclear reactors and empty cities. The sky has taken on a copper hue from the continual duststorms, and even the ultramodern transit systems and starports are empty and windblown. When the Earth’s pollution accumulated to an unlivable level, the humans boarded cruise-ships-to-the-stars and left an army of Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class robots to deal with the ruined planet.

The only problem is the project failed. Only one robot still works on, and he is lonely. WALL-E, voiced by Ben Burtt, toils cheerfully during the day, but spends his evenings wondering what it would be like to have a friend. Pollution-ruined robots dot the landscape, and WALL-E’s only companion is a cockroach.

When an inquisitive Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, a gorgeous but sharp-tempered space probe named EVE, Elissa Knight, suddenly drops into his environment, he is instantly smitten. He takes her to his “home” to show her the oddities he has collected in his work. When she finds a seedling in his hoard, though, she collects the plant and goes into hibernation. When her carrier rocket returns to pick her up, WALL-E stows away as the spaceship leaves for the Crab Nebula.

When the robots and their precious plant reach the Axiom, an immense starship sheltering the human race, they encounter another troubled world. Waited on hand-and-foot by a crew of obsequious robot stewards, the humans have lived a life devoid of physical exertion or personal responsibility. They are unable even to act for their own good.

EVE’s plant, like the olive sprig the dove returned to Noah’s ark, indicates that Earth can support life again and humanity can return. The robots are not so ready to relinquish their power, and a colossal struggle erupts over who will control the plant. EVE and WALL-E must race against time to rouse the humans if they are ever to return to Earth.

WALL-E is a personable little robot, and his cheerful labor and innocent curiosity will endear him to viewers. EVE is initially cold, until she replays her memories of Earth for the starship captain and realizes the little things WALL-E did for her. Her subsequent devotion to WALL-E, who risks his life to recover the plant and complete her mission, is touching. It raises interesting questions about robot romances but plays out well in the movie.

The underlying themes are more problematic, though. Humans are depicted as finally having ruined the earth with nuclear reactors, oil tankers, satellites, and the excess of consumerism — symbolized by billboards on the moon. The film issues a strong indictment against modern society, portraying the human race as a selfish horde of consumers focused solely on leisure and entertainment. BNL, the global corporation that built and operates the Axiom, is actually short for “Buy-N-Large.” Every human on board the starship lives in a motorized hoverchair, their every whim supplied by the robot stewards. Virtual golf and tennis are common pastimes on the Axiom, but few of the grotesquely obese passengers even know that there is a real swimming pool aboard.

These adverse impressions are mitigated somewhat by a plot that pushes the humans finally to develop some muscle and that shows the environment finally becoming habitable again. Political jabs are less balanced, though. The briefing room of the White House is shown twice, with the BNL logo substituted for the Great Seal, as the former CEO of BNL, Fred Willard, issues disastrous advice in a heavy Texas accent, urging his listeners to “stay the course” in a not-so-subtle comparison to President Bush.

These environmental and societal premises have a decidedly alarmist slant, but the actual plotline balances it to a large degree. The characters are masterfully drawn, and Pixar’s animation is flawless as always. Taken altogether, “WALL-E” is a supremely entertaining film, with more serious themes. It will be enjoyed by all ages, and well deserves a place next to “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” and “Cars” on the family DVD shelves.

Ever wanted to tie yourself to a bunch of balloons and fly away? Carl Fredricksen does just that this summer in Pixar’s newest animated blockbuster, Up (directed by Pete Docter). Seventy-eight-year-old widower Carl (voiced by Ed Asner), grieving his recently deceased wife, decides to fulfill a childhood dream to go to the fabled Paradise Falls by mooring thousands of balloons to his house and flying it to South America. In the process, cantankerous Carl collects a giant bird, a talking dog, and 8-year-old stowaway Russell (Jordan Nagai), all of whom demand more love, loyalty, and leadership than Carl’s tired heart can supply. Climb aboard as Carl Fredricksen finally finds his adventure — which may be a little … wilder … than either he or Russell anticipated.

The film opens with a look back into Carl’s childhood, as he watches newsreels of his hero, intrepid explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer) set off in his airship, the Spirit of Adventure, seeking the legendary giant bird of South America’s Paradise Falls. The youthful Carl soon meets Ellie, a girl even more obsessed with Muntz than himself, if possible, and their shared dream makes them fast friends. In the course of time, they grow up, fall in love, marry, and grow old together, always promising each other they would someday make it to Paradise Falls like their hero.

We return to the present to find a fiercely independent Carl, widowed and alone for the first time in 50 years. With his cottage  threatened by urban development, the retired balloon salesman devises a plan to tie thousands of balloons to his house and sail it to South America, inadvertently taking along Russell, a Wilderness Explorer. Carl and Russell face far more than the simple difficulty of getting to the falls, however. Charles Muntz is still searching for his giant bird, and he has become rather territorial about the falls and the birds that live there, complicating matters when one of the rare birds attaches itself to their convoy. The explorer is convinced the man and boy are out to get him, and sends his trained dog packs out to find and stop them. Russell must learn courage and Carl patience if they are to survive this blue-yonder adventure in one piece.

Up continues Pixar’s long tradition of breathtakingly beautiful cinematic panoramas of computer-generated imagery. The setting of the main part of the movie — the ground and skies of Paradise Falls — is richly, wonderfully detailed. With Up, however, for the first time Pixar experimented with wide-release 3D in its films. While I did not see it in 3D (3D showings are dependent on the theater and are typically $3 to $5 more expensive), I have heard that, as usual, Pixar hit the 3D version out of the ballpark. In my own experience, though, the 3D version of a film may be distracting or confusing and can even cause some people headaches; your mileage may vary.

The true theme of the movie isn’t about helping the elderly, or never forgetting your dreams, or anything else. Russell needs leadership, needs to learn how to be a man. Carl needs to remember who he is. You can’t forget a dream, yet dreams are not enough — sometimes you have to leave them behind. In short, it’s “If” in cinematic form — Rudyard Kipling’s challenge to courageous manhood:

If you can dream — and not make dreams your master,
If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same.

Be advised: the emotional intensity of Up may be a little too much for some kids. The family in front of me in the theater had to take their little girls out three times, as the suspense got to be too much for them. Unlike some of Pixar’s previous films, this time the heroes in danger are near and dear to us — a vulnerable old man and a little boy rather than a talking car, a clownfish, or a teenage chef. The film is hardly all seriousness, though. The explorer’s trained dog pack is fitted with collars that allow them to talk … until their attention is interrupted by a passing squirrel. Ever wondered how a dog thinks? Pixar’s nailed it — “Sir, I have just met you but I LOVE you. … ” Talking dogs, a giant bird that loves chocolate, and the escapades of an irrepressible 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer do a lot to relieve the tension of the film.

Carl regains the sense of adventure, of youthfulness, he lost when Ellie died. And Russell learns how to be a man at last. Carl’s childhood hero failed the test, but Carl and Russell have come a long way together, and it shows. Pixar has done it again and created a beautiful, wonderful, heroic tearjerker of a movie. In today’s culture, we can do far worse for our kids and for ourselves.

My review was published in Carolina Journal’s February issue. As always, CJ makes a good read, but I’ve included my review below.

War films, conspiracy thrillers, and action blockbusters are not rare, but one that fulfills all of the categories like “Valkyrie” is a treat. Director Bryan Singer brings us the powerful story of the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944 — an action that, if successful, could have ended Germany’s part in the war nine months early and saved thousands of lives. Tom Cruise stars in this unusual epic, showcasing the real, not fictional, bravery of a small group of men who tried to bring down one of the worst dictators that ever lived and redeem their nation’s reputation.

The film opens with a young German Army Col. Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise), recently invalided home from North Africa, coming to a realization that he could no longer in good conscience support the Fuehrer — Hitler had become “not only the archenemy of the world, but the archenemy of Germany.” Other officers, such as General Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh), had reached the same conclusion and determined to act on it — a recent attempt to plant a bomb on Hitler’s transport plane had failed. The brilliant young von Stauffenberg, transferred to the German High Command (OKW), was quickly recruited for the plan to stop Hitler.

The conspirators were torn between their oaths of loyalty to the Fuehrer as officers and the conviction that he had to be stopped. In his position in OKW, von Stauffenberg stumbled across an existing plan named “Operation Valkyrie” designed to secure the government in case of a coup. As a trusted officer who briefed Hitler frequently, von Stauffenberg was the perfect courier to deliver a bomb to kill the dictator. With Hitler’s own plan for securing the government, he could manipulate the expected response in their favor.

On July 20, at a routine briefing at the Fuehrer’s Eastern Front headquarters, von Stauffenberg armed the bomb while a confederate cut off communications with Berlin to gain time to implement their plan. Von Stauffenberg waited until he witnessed the blast, then bluffed his way out of the compound in the ensuing confusion. Unknown to him, the bomb had been moved aside by another officer who was not in on the secret, and Hitler was shielded from the full force of the blast when it went off.

Returning to Berlin, von Stauffenberg found the other conspirators had not taken advantage of the three-hour communication blackout to start Operation Valkyrie, as the dictator’s death had not yet been confirmed. Word began leaking out that the Fuehrer was not dead, and when von Stauffenberg’s communications were cut off by Hitler’s order, the plot, and the lives of the conspirators, were doomed.

“Valkyrie” remains largely faithful to the historical account, deviating in a few places but carefully following the main narrative. Many small details are faithfully included, such as an unsuspecting officer’s careless handling of one of the early bombs that scared one of the conspirators. The initial announcement of the production met with mixed reactions in Germany. Concerns were raised over the casting of megastar Tom Cruise as von Stauffenberg, both as a highly public Scientology adherent (the religious group is considered a cult in Germany and the government has considered a ban) and as the star of “Top Gun,” likely resulting in a watered-down story to emphasize the action. Not least, they needed permission to shoot at historic locations and display the Nazi flag and symbols — strictly verboten in Germany.

These well-considered reservations were resolved, however. The German government granted permission to film and backdate to Nazi times a variety of historic sites, including the Benderblock in Berlin where the chief conspirators were shot. The filmmakers may have dramatized a few scenes, but the project as a whole upholds the factual account. Valkyrie keeps up the tension through the final minutes, even with the ending never in doubt. The result is a very straightforward, clean, historically accurate depiction of the heroism of a small circle of men willing to risk and give their all.

I was extraordinarily impressed by the historical accuracy of the film and their treatment of a spy/war plot with little-to-no language, little gore, and no nudity or other inappropriate behavior. I felt the film would not have been out of place showing at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival–despite its Big Hollywood origins, the film gave a accurate, sympathetic portrayal of real heroism in the character of Colonel Von Stauffenberg, and they didn’t ruin it with gratuitous content errors.

The writing was also superb. Even where the lines are most likely entirely fictional, the writing is quite memorable–at one point Treskow, leaving the plot in Stauffenberg’s hands when he is transferred to the front, turns to von Stauffenberg and says, “You know, God promised Abraham that he would not destroy Sodom if there were ten righteous men. I feel for Germany it may come down to one.” When the conspirators are facing the firing squad at the end, Colonel Von Stauffenberg says to one of the others, “Look them in the eye; they’ll remember you.” This film powerfully tells their story for a new generation.

That brings me to the topic of my current post. The Lord recently provided an awesome new camera, a Canon SX10 IS, through a special technology scholarship at my school. I’ve since been enjoying shooting photos of our campus, reputed to be among the prettiest in the United States.

Last Sunday night I was busy on a Music History paper due the next morning at 9 and was up most of the night–in fact, I had only 1.5 hours of sleep when I walked into class that morning. The upside to this really long night was that I got to see a spectacular sunrise the next morning at a quarter to seven–the photos below were just taken off my dorm steps twenty feet from my room.

R.E. Lee Episcopal silhouetted against the sunrise.

A little wider shot with the Lee House and Davis Hall in the picture, taken across the BDG Quad.

I’m home for the moment for Thanksgiving and greatly enjoying finally getting enough sleep, despite having a major political philosophy paper to write over break. Sleep, politics paper, food and more sleep cover most of my priorities for this week. And then back to school for one more week of class, then finals and Christmas break! Lord willing I should be able to post some more pictures soon, especially over the Christmas holidays. And now to bed, for it is plenty late already…

More pictures, posts, (and the much-delayed announcement) later…

IHS,
John Calvin Young

I took this photo while on vacation at Lake Wateree a couple of weeks ago. Subject is my brother Samuel fishing and our dog Martha waiting for the fish.

I love shooting RAW–it gives you such control over the final product. With the camera I was using, it would be very hard to get that picture under the right light conditions, so I actually shot it when it was a little lighter outdoors and adjusted it in post. It was not staged, though–they spent about 20 hours over the week fishing off the dock!

IHS,
John Calvin Young