Although DW Griffith's film was originally called The Clansmen when it first screened in the states, and although it's very sympathetic to the confederate cause, and although it definitely shows an appreciation for a certain white-hooded organization, I think that's not fully what makes Birth of a Nation a good movie.

First of all, the scope of this story is all over the place. It begins pre-Civil War, introducing us to Northern and Southern families, continues to the war full of battle scenes and raided homes, replicates the surrender of the South, moves on to Lincoln's freeing of the slaves and also his assassination, and on to an insurgence of power that the white southerners react to by forming the clan and saving the day. It's got love, it's got battle, it's got replicated moments in history, it's got costumes, it's got sets. And they're all good.

Second, this movie has heart. It's not just a slanted reproduction of historical events. It follows both the Northern and Southern families through their trials caused by the war. Some grow poor, some grow powerful, some find love, and some die. This was a really ambitious movie.

The only thing I could think of when it was all over was what a director like Griffith would be able to accomplish in today's film industry. If he was able to do as much as he did in BOAN in 1915, imagine what he could do in the 21st century with millions of dollars!

Although the runtime is about three hours and ten minutes of silent film, it was worth the time for me. I say that now that I'm finished, but it probably took me a few installments to finish the whole thing, just to warn you.

Stephen Colbert gets his own show - The Colbert Report is scheduled to debut early this fall. He's my favorite correspondent on the Daily Show, so this should be good. He'll be making fun of the pundit shows that cable news is peppered with.

Check out BumperBall, a version of air hockey using bumper cars. There's a really cool two player mode in addition to playing against the computer.

I haven't really been in the blogging mood lately. I had a killer job interview in Orange on Sunday that I thought I nailed. The kids and parents at the church really responded well and it was obvious that I was the pastor's choice for the job. Unfortunately, the final decision wasn't up to her and the kids and parents decided that I was too outreach oriented and my ideas were a little too big for them. Basically they didn't want to grow out of their comfort zone and they wound up hiring the safe man who won't challenge them. Bummer. So I'm scrambling for a job since I need some sort of cash flow. I won't even tell you some of the places I applied at yesterday. I really had to suck in the last couple ounces of pride I had left. I also applied at a bunch of churches, some of them out of state. So we'll see what happens. My future is still kind of a giant question mark right now and I'm trying to deal with that the best that I can.

We finally got our bedside tables that match our bedframe and dresser! It really does take a long time to settle in when you get married. We've been making little improvements to the place as we go, but it still feels like there's so much to do. We keep making lists and then putting things off because it all costs money, and we'd rather invest for the future than spend like crazy on furniture and accessories. So at least the bedroom is pretty much complete. I think eventually we might buy a couple more things from the bedroom collection we've been putting together, but none of them are all that necessary for the time being.

Our goal right now is to do what we can to make the apartment feel less cluttered. Having a piano really makes a difference in a room - it makes arranging the room a lot more difficult since it takes up a pretty big amount of space. With that, two couches, two bookcases, two end tables, and an entertainment center all in one room, it feels a little bit packed. We're trying to think of better ways to streamline and organize. Plus, it's about time we put some pictures up on the walls! We'll have to find some nice art. At least our wedding album is in and our enlarged prints will be ready soon. Some of those on the walls might actually make it look like someone lives in the apartment. ;)

By the way, we got our album and it's beautiful. If there's anyone out there who isn't married yet, I highly recommend Ira for wedding photography. Don't let his prices scare you - he's worth every penny!

Ugliest Basketball Players

Funny Stuff. Here is what they had to say about Pollard:

It's appropriate that an All-Ugly Honorable Mention was Shaq's favorite whipping boy. Shaq considers himself pretty. He was just sick with seeing Pollard come out with a different hairstyle every day and nailpolish and samurai beards and trying to front him with his weak game. So Shaq had to dunk on his ass and launch him into the photographers out of habit. And get the call, too.

What they had to say about a certain Knick's center was better though:

Ewing's jaw... there hasn't been one of its like in the human race in 60- shoot, 70,000 years. If Ewing was to pass on, and you got a hold of his skeletal jaw and buried it in the Olduvai Gorge, the archeologist who dug it up might announce that he had found a speciman that was almost certainly Homo Erectus, though remarkably well-preserved. Ewing doesn't clean up well, either. He looks worse in a suit than in a uniform. Bad part is he wore the suit for most of his career, as he watched one ringless season after another pile up. Good. He and his team destroyed pro basketball in the '90s. The Knicks weren't good enough to beat anyone fair and square, so they just played rough.

This is a move that is making geeks everywhere happy. Kevin Rose was one of the last TechTV personalities left on G4TV. He was unhappy with the way his friends got fired and the way he wasn't allowed to do as much tech content as he wanted on the dumbed down incarnation of The Screen Savers. He also happened to be locked into a four year contract, so he couldn't quit. But, after a month of negotiations, he was released from his contract, and he's moving on. I see this as one more nail in the coffin for G4. They've already lost most of their good talent, cancelled or ruined the good shows they brought over and, what's most telling, they've exchanged all the relevant and profitable tech company ads for exercise equipment ads and infomercials like you see on PAX late at night. I'm hoping they'll close up shop soon.

On the upside, Kevin Rose has some good projects underway. Last night his downloadable tech show, Systm launched. I watched it this morning and it was really fun. It reminded me of some of the best segments from TSS. Now that he's doing this full time, it should be high quality and frequently released. If you like tech at all, this is worth a download. Rose has another project I like quite a bit: Digg.com. And the whole TSS team gets together once a week to record This Week in Tech, a 60 minute podcast of technology news and discussion.

Here are some reviews of Star Wars III.

1. Carmine Granucci - revenge of the sith…
   
2. Brendan - Revenge of the Sith
   
3. Roland - Darth Morgan
   
4. Parableman - Sith Exclusivism and Absolutism
   
5. Gene Edward Veith - Movie review: Star Wars III: The Revenge of the Sith
   
6. Kevin Smith - Kevin Smith geeks out on 'Sith'
   
7. John Hartl (MSMBC) - Lucas delivers an uneven finale with ‘Sith’

Add others in the comments.