Pirates 3: At World’s End

This is the BIG one – it has it all: swashbuckling swordfights, mythological beings and tremendous storms, double-crossing (a lot!), love, hate, comedy, tragedy, ships battling it out over a gigantic whirlpool and some serious special effects, like you’ve (really) never sen before!
It is the final (?) installment of the Pirates of the Carribean-franchise and it is worth every penny to watch. I’ll see it again, if only for the visual splendour that it is.
So, okay, CGI can create anything, but this one is different. It is more than just a spectacular feast for the eyes; this is really larger than life stuff. Ships that are rocked to sail upside down, an entire ship full of Jack Sparrows, the massive whirlpool…it all ads up to just a magnificent movie.
But the greatness does not lie only in the visual and sound effects. This one actually has a well-written plot, much more than the second movie, where you only needed to watch certain parts to follow on what’s going on. In this third installment you really need to focus closely on what’s happening at all times (and you better touch up beforehand, so watch Pirates 2 again first). A guy told me to keep a notebook handy to write down who is double-crossing who. Regrettably I failed to follow his advice and almost got completely lost. At some points you just give up and sit back and watch the damn thing!
When the history behind some characters are revealed, the plot thickenss quite heavily. Strings start to get pulled together and in the end everything makes sense… somehow. There is better comedy in this one – they don’t ride on the back of the old jokes like in the second movie – and the “wedding”scene is just hilarious. It is clear that the writers made an effort to improve on the previous two movies, without losing the heart of the story. This is the kind of stuff that fairy tales from now on should be made of. Never before was it this much fun and adventure to be a pirate!
I would be okay if the producers decided to call it quits after At World’s End. It has been a privilege to see Jack Sparrow (Captain! Captain Jack Sparrow!) come to life on screen along with mythological characters such as Davy Jones, Calypso, The Kraken, The Flying Dutchman and Keira Knightley. Yet, if they do decide to continue (there are some stuff about the Fountain of Youth than can possibly be explored) I know that everyone will be there to watch. Drink up me hearties yo ho!

Friday Night Lights

I have just finished watching the season 1 finale of FNL and I can tell you it’s great! There are some twists and turns that is not expected, but it will keep you glued to your seats!
There are some unanswered questions left which, if there is going to be a second season, will probably be answered then – otherwise, they are open for interpretation. But you don’t get that “hanging in the air”-feeling like with some other series such as One Tree Hill or The OC (I’m a fan of both by the way!) or even Prison Break.
Enough of that. Go check it out for yourself. What I want to talk about is the way they handle their explicit views on Christianity throughout the season (pun intended!). From the word go the producers made no secret that the townsfolk’s faith and religion is an integral part of the story, even if it is just a constant sub-plot. We see scenes in various churches and we see a lot of pre-match and post-match prayers. There are also some references to the “Christian thing to do” in certain situations and even a Gospel hard rock-band called Crucifictorious (interesting name, by the way!). So you are constantly reminded that this town and its people are (or pretend to be) deeply religious/spiritual.
What are interesting are the statements (or comments, if you will) they make about teen sex and “forbidden” relationships, like Buddy Garrity’s adultery (or, in his own words, “straying outside his marriage”) and Jason and Layla’s relationship and the extensions thereof. Yes, in the case of Julie and Matt, Julie’s mom rant and rave on how dangerous it can be in physical and psychological ways. What scared me was that Julie thought of it as “just one body part going into another body part”, which her mom, thank goodness, corrected. Yet they went ahead, but they weren’t “ready” for it…We never actually see them having sex after that and it is never brought up again, so we are left to think that they kept it tat way. Or aren’t we?
Jason, Layla and Tyra’s case, on the other hand, is a different story. Layla cheats on Jason with his best friend, Tim Riggins, who went out with Tyra before, and end up being called the school skank. A huge rambling is made over it, as if she is the first girl to ever have done something like that in the whole universe. But, as the episode’s title pointed out rightfully, “It’s different for girls”. A guy can get away with something like that, but a girl makes one mistake…Later, it comes back to bite her in the ass yet again when Jason cheats on her with a girl he actually barely knew from the quad-rugby national try-outs (that is a really random sentence!) because “she was so easy to talk to”. Please.
Then there is Buddy Garrity’s “straying” outside his marriage. His excuse? “I’m a sinner. I’m a weak man.” I think he says that about four or five times over two or three episodes. We all know the Buddy Garritys of the town. He is the bigshot, the rich guy that is at all the matches and socializes witht the team and the coahces and he is almost like their patron. He also goes to church every Sunday and is a real family guy. He also pisses us off big time every time you see him and in your heart of hearts you actually wish something bad will happen to him, like an attack of stomach flu or something, just to get that cheesy smirk off his please-hit-me-face. Yet, he is a team player and extremely loyal to the coach and the team and he is the one to screw up eventually, and then it is usually something bigger than just a stomach ache. His marriage fails (we don’t really know why he “strayed”, just that he is a sinner) and his kids suffer the consequences. Their marriage will never be patched up and his wife will hate him till the day she dies.
Another thing is that the one reverend’s daughter is diagnosed with a bipolar disorder – depression. I wished that they would make a little more of that, as well as Smash’s steroid-problem, because that is also problems that high school kids suffer from, not just casual sex.
There are lots more to say about this series and we can get into some serious analyzing later on. What I’m really glad about is that they never made religion or Christianity cheap or a quick fix in a tight spot. Problems can hit anybody, no matter who you are, and it is in your hands to decide how you are going to handle them. Are you going to try on your own, and risk the chance of screwing up big time? Or are you going to open up to other people and let them and God help you to handle the difficult situations in life?
It is only in following his real passions that Jason found healing (coaching Saracen for the last 2 games) and that Coach Taylor made his final decision (I think) to stay in Dillon.
Go watch it. It is great stuff.

The shirt-thing

Hey everybody!
So yeah, I see this T-shirt thing got you guys…talking! I just want to clear up one or two things: maybe I did not give my own view of Jaco as clear as I should. I think he is a great guy and I believe I did not degrade him at all in my previous post. If I did – sorry, Jaco! I did say that I think he was very brave for doing that and that we should all testify wherever we go. I just said that we must look at the means we use.
As for edge100, I’m not sure I understand you correctly. Anyone who calls himself a Christian is a Christian…yes, again, if his/her actions corresponds with what they confess. I know that there has been MANY, MANY interpretations of this “piece of Iron Age literature” and the interpretations will just become more as time goes on, but one thing you cannot escape and that is that it tells you to love your neighbour and it exclaims the “golden rule” : DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU’D HAVE DONE TO YOU…
(Interesting how that one will work out on a rugby field 😉 )
But hey, crucify me for making a few comments, please.
(We watch FNL at our residence at Tuks…we get the episodes through a network. I’m going to watch the season finale right after I’m finished with this post!)
Upcoming stuff: maybe another fairy tale distorted (iemand het my ‘n idee gegee rondom Rooikappie…), maybe another movie analysis or if something dramatic happens I will write about that. It has been too quiet for too long now…
Cheers and keep safe!

Rugby, religion and prayer

Yeah, I know this sounds familiar but it’s not the same I promise. This one is about Jaco van der Westhuizen who climbed up the goalposts and put on his Jesus is King- T-shirt.
I have spoken to a few vastlydifferent people about this and I got several different opinions. It varies from people who thinks it was completely inappropriate and a total disgrace, to people who thinks he accomplished what he wanted to. Some also thinks that he was very brave for doing that and some thinks that actions speak louder than words, even if they are printed on a T-shirt.
Myself, I don’t really know what to make of it completely. Yeah, we should testify wherever and whenever (and if necessary, with words!). Yeah, it was a brave thing to do in front of the whole world (it is not limited to the Southern Hemisphere).
But was it really the BEST thing to do?
I’m not completely convinced.
You see, I know that rugby players pray before and after games. Wheteher it is out of true conviction or out of habit is not the question right now, the fact is they do it. I have been present MANY times when this is done. Usually the prayer revolves around keeping the players safe from injuries, let them have a good match, playing their hearts out and keeping the game clean. Afterwards they would thank God for keeping them safe (and to be with a person that has been hurt if there was any) and thank Him for the victory or to help them to stay strong and to be with them for the rest of the season. It is not (usuaully) a prayer where God is “bargained” into a victory or some crap like that. (An interesting example can be found in Friday Night Lights season 1 episode 12 or 13!)
Now, the Blue Bulls is a team that is known for not being shy about their religious convictions, something I find heartwarming, because it goes to show that there is more to rugby (and other sports) than just the big brawny guys with girls and beer – like we’ve seen so many times on TV or out of own experience. Players like Pierre Spies are quite outspoken about their Christianity and what it means to be a Christian Rugby player. They are not the only sports personalities to share their faith publicly – cricket players like Jonty Rhodes, Shaun Pollock, Hansie Cronje (rip) etc. have been knowned to do this.
It is, as I said, heartwarming.
But the thing with Jaco is that he is making it difficult for himself (and Christianity) by doing that. If he so much as punch a guy by accident in the next game, or swear on the field in front of the cameras or you name it, then people will start throwing stones and say: “Yeah, and he calls himself a Christian!” People are like that unfortunately.
We know that Christians are not perfect people at all, but the public (and I seriously don’t know why) still believes that they should be and beware them if they screw up once. The moment I saw Jaco with that shirt, I thought: “Oh shit, here it comes again!” And it did.
In a world where we are called to testify our faith in the place where we are (be it in an office, on the sports field, in a classroom, on a stage, wherever) we ahould really be careful as to how we do it. People don’t care what you say until they see your actions and if that does not correspond with what you say you believe, you will be outed as a hypocrite so quickly you won’t even know it.
The old saying still remains: ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS…

Rugby and religion

Hey everyone
So by this time everybody in South Africa knows that the Super 14 rugby final is being played this weekend in Durban. The excitement is surreal – history is being made in SA!!! Never before has 2 SA teams played in a Super 14 (or Super 12 or Super10!) final. The Sharks is the only SA team to ever have played in a Super 14 final and now the Bulls got their turn as well. It promises to be one of the most fascinating ends to a tremendous tournament. Well done to all the teams and thanks for making it so very interesting to watch!
If you have been in Pretoria at all last week prior to the semi-final against the Crusaders there is no way in hell that you could have missed what is going on. People painted their houses blue, jammed up their cars and bakkies, had rugby players at schools and I just read about a birthday party for a 5-year old that had the whole Blue Bulls theme as he couldn’t make it to the game on Saturday. There were flags everywhere and people stood in crazy queues at the beginning of last week to get their hands on tickets to the game, which they sold, afterwards, for ever so crazy prices!
And what a game that semi-final was. It was worth every penny of it (though I got my ticket for free from my future brother-in-law!) and I’m glad I got to see it first hand. The whole Loftus-experience is just something else.
Imagine if that was the way we thought of our religion or went about it. People standing in crazy lines to reserve a seat at a place where they could worship, jamming up their cars to go with the theme of that specific religion, singing songs for specific “(P)layers”… now that would be crazy!!
But as you know I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and please differ from me but there are some unmistaken parallels between sports (read:rugby) and religion.
1) a place of worship: Loftus Versfeld is the shrine of the Blue Bulls in Pretoria and there is no other way of putting it. It is a big stadium with many entrances and a very open door policy: as long as you pay for your ticket you are welcome. There are certain restrictions on what to bring with you and what not, but you are more or less free to enter on your own terms. What you are not allowed to bring in, you can obtain inside. There are workers and cleaners and people keeping the place in shape…just like at a church
2) songs to sing: Everyone who has ever been to Loftus during the past year or more knows the chorus to Ge Korsten’s “Liefling” of by heart. The same goes for Steve Hofmeyr’s “Die Blou Bul”. People sing it at the top of their voices in honour of a certain player (in this case Derick Hougaard) or team (The Bulls). There is no pipe organ that gives a little dramatic 16th century intro to start the songs, people just burst out and sing it! A lot more spontaneous than they would in a regular protestant church service…
3) Rites and rituals: “Biltong, Bier en Braaivleis” (biltong, beer and barbecue) – that is rugby’s eucharist. It usually starts before the game, everyone involved gather together around their parking spot (if they are at the game – this can be done at home too) and their Cadac gas braaier. A few tjoppies, a piece of sausage and many six packs of Castle Lager round off the picture. Often there are also a bottle or two of Brandy involved, with Coca Cola as the mix for that drink. A rugby enthusiast that cannot braai properly is seriously lacking education. And everyone eats his or her meat differently – some like it juicy, others prefer it so dry you can break it while others still eats it when a good vet could have saved the poor animal who gave up his chops.
It is also appropriate to have biltong, chips and other snacks while you are watching the game. Depending on where you are and who is with you, you could consume alcohol or settle for soft drinks and ice cream. How is this like church? Well, people in different congregations have their eucharist in different ways, although there are some lines which they all keep to. Bread and wine is consumed by young and old mostly and celebrates a Victory that has been won. With rugby the braai can also happen after the game, and then it has the same purpose – celebrating victory.
4) Attire: “Church clothes” – we all know what that is. Your best dress, your neatest shirt, your nicest shoes, tie and belt. Luckily the perception around that is changing slowly but surely, but not so much for rugby supporters. There is no “less is more” approach here. Around the rugby field “more is more”. The Bluer you are, the better! Now, everyone does not need to go to the extreme of painting themselves blue from head to toe. It suffice if you are wearing at least a proper Rugby shirt and cap/hat (if you have one). Having a flag is also optional, but it is a “nice to have” and are welcomed most of the time.
The cheerleaders do not fall into this category at all and the less they wear, the better!
With the reverend’s (heavy traditional) white tie and black cloak and our own “sunday clothes” this is certainly a parallel to consider!
5) Communion: Finally, this is the one thing that churches can really learn from sports and especially rugby. There is feeling of belonging, because as long as we support the same team, we are ipso facto on the same team. You are “one of us”, even if I don’t know you from Adam. I experienced this last weekend also in a strong way: after the game we went to a Retief Burger-dvd recording (he’s an Afrikaans Gospel singer) and a few of the people there wore Blue Bull shirts, myself included. As soon as someone wearing such a shirt saw me, they started talking about the game – complete strangers, sharing fellowship because of something that binds them together.
That is what church really should be about: not about the clothes we wear, the songs we sing, the place where we worship or the rituals we perform, but about the fellowship that binds us together and makes you feel welcomed and loved, no matter who you are or what you’ve done. Maybe for the upcoming Algemene Sinode of the NG Kerk (General Synod of the Dutch reformed Church) the people that is going to attend should go to a rugby game together more often to see what the church really should be about…