AMNH

I've visited the Museum of Natural History before but this was the first time I went in which I actually read allot of the exhibits. Its a bit shallow on my part but my other visits were mainly visual...the non-reading visual type, I rarely read or interactive with the exhibits. This last visit was a combination of research work and fun, and it did balance out nicely in the end.

First off let me point this out, if you paid attention to the film (An Inconvenient Truth) and read the book you didn't really find out anything that you didn't already know. Most of the info was basic knowledge such as more fossil fuel burning = more Co2 in the atmosphere. But the museum is needed to cap the the global warming lesson, the book can be accessed by any student at any time, the movie is shown to the class, and the actual touchable exhibits are the group work hands-on section. With only one form of media we would learn all we would need to know about climate change, but when you combine all three you really get the full benefit of learning.

Seeing the ice core was probably my favorite part of the visit. The core, like tree rings, visually shows which years were "clean" and which were "dirty". At a more in depth level it reveals the Co2 content of a certain year if traced back correctly, this gives scientists a clear view on how man has sped up the global warming process. As a side note, the ice core container was not cold which leads me to believe that it is a fake...but then again so are the dinosaur bones on the 4th floor(they are molds of the real thing).

On the atmosphere I learned that greenhouse gases are: water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane and nitron oxide. All of these gases are natural, global climate change is natural, but humanity has squeezed itself into the equation and dumped these gases into the atmosphere at a record number.

It is hard to describe which I felt more believable. I am a very visual person and movies tend to be real for me to an extent, but then again actually seeing a ice core with my own eyes was extremely interesting. Frankly I find both believable. If I must choose it would be the exhibits, simply because they lack the sometimes annoying Al Gore.

The museum is defiantly a sort of media, it allows humanity to use its original investigation methods, our five senses. It lets us touch, hear, smell, sight and in some exhibits maybe even taste in a clean, contained environment. Most of us wouldn't go to the Grand Canyon to see first hand on how rock layers are form (I know I would!) so the museums brings it to us, to experience what many of us wouldn't normally experience while living in or around Manhattan.

Gnosti-wha?

I have always been a fact based person, facts are straight forward and easy to comprehend and use. I admit that before college I had almost no experience with philosophy, so when I was given this assignment I...well..broke down and cried like a little girl (in a psychological sort of way).

First off Gnosticism is not a Platonic philosophy, it is a religious philosophy of sorts. Reading the first paragraph on Gnosticism on Wikipedia makes me feel like I'm reading something from L. Ron Hubbard.

So after struggling with the text I have this info:

1. Gnosticism is heretical Christian.
2. Gnosticism is Muslim.
3. Gnosticism is Jewish.
4. World peace would be achievable if we all followed Gnosticism.

AFTER further reading I came up with this,

Did the heretical Christians believe in dualism with one supreme "good" Archon (ruler, God) and another lower, more "bad" Archon that attempts to overthrow and destroy the good? The followers of Gnosticism believe in heaven and hell and finally how old is gnosticism?

To be honest Gnosticism sounds like a Christian offshoot attempting a weak attempt to return to polytheism, and with that in mind is it just a philosophy that Greek and Roman polytheistic worshipers came up with so that they could find middle ground between the coming battle over Rome and Christianity?

The Matrix has some similarity's with Gnosticism, the concept of our souls being trapped in a material world is similar to what Gnosticism preaches. But questions come out, is the crew of the Nebakanezer the lowly evil god trying to destroy the material world? I believe that they are in a sense. In their minds they are doing man a favor but isn't the Matrix itself the last part down a long chain of techno-evolution in which we are in right now? Another thing comes to mind over the dualism issue, is Agent Smith the lowly archon and Neo, the hero to millions in Zion, the good natured archon?

So with closing I have found Gnosticism a interesting topic, but like I said in my opening statements I have never been one for string philosophy. Hopefully down the road of life I will find a greater appreciation for philosophy, then I will attempt to revisit Gnosticism and hopefully find some enlightenment.

I miss the late 90s

Did something happen in the late 90s that I missed? Fight Club and The Matrix and you can even throw in Sphere and Event Horizon and now The Truman Show. These movies were fun to watch yet made you think, this in my opinion is what defines a good movie. I watched The Truman Show when I was a kid and completely forgot about until a few days ago the title caught my eye while browsing the channel index.

The Truman Show is about Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey), a well to do insurance agent who is playing the lead role in the most watched TV show in human history....a 24 hour TV show that revolves around Truman's life. I wont spoil any more and I suggest you watch it for yourself, don't expect to be wowed but The Truman Show is a perfect movie for a lazy weekend afternoon.

More Info:
Trailer
Wiki

R.I.P. Starchild, Rest in Peace....

(CNN) -- Arthur C. Clarke, whose science fiction and non-fiction works ranged from the script for "2001: A Space Odyssey" to an early proposal for communications satellites, has died at age 90, associates have said.

I enjoyed reading the 200- books and watching the movie even tho I didn't get it much the first time, but not many people get it during their first viewing anyway. Arthur C. Clarke's legacy will live on for a great while as we humans hopefully expand into space.

For more information on Mr. Clarke,
Author C. Clarke Wiki
2001: A Space Odyssey Wiki
2001: A Space Odyssey IMDB
2001: A Space Odyssey Opening (A classic!)

Neo-Platoism

The matrix is a cave, sure it doesn't look like one but for the millions(or billions?) living in it the truth is only what the matrix projects. This is where we see Neo at the start of the Matrix, Neo is completely ignorant about his virtual world and so are most of his fellow humans with the exception of a few "red pills" who are aware of the real world and who have freed themselves from the cave.

The Matrix is a sci-fi look at Plato's "allegory of the cave" mainly in the way that Neo acts and experiences the real world. The first hour or so of the movie is dedicated to Neo escaping the cave and learning about the non digitalized world. The similarities end their as Neo does not attempt to educate those that are still in the Matrix, instead he attacks the root of the problem, Neo attempts to put out the fire.

The Wachowski brothers were clearly inspired by Plato, the story of a person living in unknown isolation and then somehow whether by force or just plain curiousness discovering a world greater then his/her own has been a common theme in movies. From the The Last Starfigher to Men in Black this theme can be seen throughout movie history.

Meet the Crew

For those of you who are wondering about the blog name, Vent-Talk is a reference to the Ventrilo server I frequent almost daily. In later posts ill get more into it but for now ill give a brief description of the locals:

Herman - Martin AKA Herman the German AKA Gianthurtball, a crazy but lovable viking wannabe who I wouldn't be around when angry.

Morrison - Yuri, a uber cool Dutchy who will probably one day commit suicide by blowing the dyke's and drowning the Netherlands. Reason?...he wasted his life on video games.

Duck - Unkown name, usually goes by Duck, Duckers, nub and comp-nub. Other then that he pretty much fails.....oh yeah and his mom is the hot.

Moldy - Dean aka Moldymilk. The redneck Alpha and Omega, Dean packs some serious firepower and is joining the Army sometime before the US invades Iran.

The Matrix Review Part Two

After a visit to the Oracle Neo and his new companions are ambushed by the police who are under the command of the Agents. The ambush was set up with the help of a fellow crew member by the name of Cypher.

Cypher hates the real world, he would rather live a normal, carefree life then live and fight for his very existence. The question is then raised... is being ignorant and happy better then being enlightened and suffering?

After dispatching Cypher but with most of the crew dead with the exception of Neo, Morpheus, Trinity and Tank (a operator). Morpheus while alive in the real world is held captive by the Agents, and without a exit point cannot exit the Matrix. Trinity and Neo then hatch a plan to free Morpheus.

During Morpheus captivity with the Agents we find out (during a long monologue that is a habit of Agents Smith) that Smith is deeply anti human and finds humans to be no better then a biological virus. Smith also expresses his hate for the system and his wishes to be free from it, this will be shown later in the two sequels.

During a extensive action scene, Neo and Trinity rescue Morpheus. The team is then pressed hard to reach a exit point because of a Sentinel attack in the real world. Neo then uses his "The One" powers and destroys Smith.

The Matrix Review Part One

While I missed the class I've seen the Matrix plenty of times so writing a review shouldn't be a problem.

The Matrix Review - Part I

The Matrix is known for two things, for the action loving male in his teens and 20s its the "bullet time" scene. Whenever you see any slow motion scene in any movie / game / tv show someone will always say "Thats some Matrix sh!t!". For the more serious person its the philosophy behind the whole red pill / blue pill argument. Between the establishment (Cypher) and the rebel (Morpheus), and between messiah (Neo) and the outcast (Smith), but this is explored more in the two sequels.

The movie begins with Mr. Anderson (aka Neo) who is shown leading a life that is split between his corporate cubical and his hacker den apartment. His known hacking skills eventually bring him to the attention of Trinity who works for a mysterious man named Morpheus. Due to a rather...odd..experience with Agents, the peace keeps of the Matrix, Neo takes the extended hand of Trinity and is taken to Morpheus. The ever famous pill scene unfolds and Neo chooses the red pill and then Neo is reborn into the Real world.

After learning and adopting to the real mankind and to the Matrix itself, Neo is sent by Morpheus to see the Oracle and to find out his true purpose as "The One".

But every journey has its road bumps, and a faulty Agent and insane(or is he?) crew member of Morpheus ragtag band of freedom fighters will prove to be quite large bumps.

Greetings

My first post...yay i guess.

My name is Dino Dobrijevic and while ive read alot of blogs this is the first one I am creating/writing.... I'm hoping that it will be a good experience.