tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63316842011-04-21T17:02:48.165-07:00My muses, thoughts, ideas, and whateverJim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.comBlogger751100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-48815869873426463072009-01-30T13:19:00.001-08:002009-01-30T13:25:19.028-08:00

In my last post of best-of-lists for 2008, I left off a list of favorite films. I did that because where I live, many of the acclaimed films that are considered favorites for Oscars aren't released until January or February. Well, now it's the end of January, and to be honest, I've only seen a couple of those so-called acclaimed films this past month (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-38133347141564717432008-12-31T11:21:00.000-08:002008-12-31T11:34:07.687-08:00

Here as we come to the end of another year, and everyone makes up best-of-2008 lists, I have compiled a list of my own, because, I like to make lists, and I listened to a lot of cool music and read a lot of good books this year. So, here goes:Best albums of 2008 (at least of the ones I've gotten around to listening to)1. TV on the Radio - Dear Science 2. Sloan - Parallel Play3. The 77s - Holy

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-7904474411024559672008-12-31T11:18:00.000-08:002008-12-31T11:20:49.660-08:00

This month I read two books from Marcher Lord Press, the coolest new little publishing house in America, specializing in fantasy fiction that takes faith seriously.Summa Elvetica by Theodore Beale An intriguing mix of fantasy and theology that takes place in a world that is ruled by an organization much like the Catholic church. Fortunately, the church here isn't depicted as absolute evil like

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-65373389855282756492008-12-05T14:16:00.000-08:002008-12-05T14:18:32.054-08:00

Around four years ago on my blog, I posted a map showing the states I have visited. I happened to find the internet site with the map on it, and since I have done a fair bit of traveling since then, I have updated my map. So now I have visited 44 states out of the 50. Woo-Hoo!create your own personalized map of the USA or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-86460716417509146952008-12-02T13:48:00.000-08:002008-12-02T13:52:25.299-08:00

I have successfully finished Nanowrimo for another year! I managed to compose 50,000 words toward a novel during the month of November. As it turns out, I managed to complete the whole draft of the novel, with a final word count of 52,063 words.What does this mean for my story of a lottery winner who becomes so bored with life with millions of dollars that he lives in an abandoned Wal-Mart, and

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-17226726158075496682008-12-02T13:47:00.001-08:002008-12-02T13:48:13.847-08:00

My reading list for November 2008, a little light due to Nanowrimo, but one very good book:Acedia and Me - by Kathleen NorrisAn informative look in to a spiritual sickness that is largely ignored by psychologists, doctors, and even clergy: the condition that monks centuries ago termed "acedia", which is a malaise, an indifference of not caring about anything. Kathleen Norris looks at the way

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-47647616282772899272008-11-28T22:27:00.000-08:002008-11-28T22:32:34.355-08:00

Ranking the films I saw during the most recent St. Louis International Film Festival starting with my most favorite (although all were worthy films)1. The WrestlerThis a deeply moving and authentic film. It gets all the details right, from the collaboration of the wrestlers in and out of the ring, to the desperation of these characters in gathering at strip clubs, seeing in their eyes they're

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-45126657351665553632008-11-03T21:33:00.000-08:002008-11-03T21:35:31.353-08:00

Cyndere's Midnight - Jeffrey Overstreet - I really enjoyed this second book in Jeffrey Overstreet's fantasy series. I was moved by the struggle of Jordam the beastman to overcome his beastly nature, and the beautiful healing properties of Auralia's Colors (as opposed to the narcotic addiction of the beastmen's "essence"). And the author continues to unfold details about the world he has created,

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-88610145368627353202008-10-09T11:05:00.001-07:002008-10-09T11:05:56.289-07:00

The Dark Foundations - Chris Walley - Second volume of the sci-fi Lamb Among the Stars trilogy that began with The Shadow and Night. This second volume reads more as a war novel than the first book, which developed this world and the characters. Now these characters are beseiged against a much stronger and more numerous enemy. The theology continues to develop, showing the difficulty of man's

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-15520455660843588992008-10-09T11:04:00.000-07:002008-10-09T11:05:05.986-07:00

The Shack - Ernest P. Young - An OK primer's guide to a Arminian/Open Christian theology leavened with self-help inspirational sayings. The quality of writing isn't bad for an author's first novel, nothing any worse than what Dan Brown puts out. The portrayal of the trinity, I didn't find to be openly heretical, but a little too touchy-feely for my tastes. There were some well-done passages on

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-12235113734650515602008-10-09T11:03:00.000-07:002008-10-09T11:04:01.698-07:00

Fearless - Robin Parrish - A well done thriller, second chapter in the author's Dominion trilogy. Keeps the suspense and characters involving, and sets things up for an intriguing finale.Stuff White People Like - Christian Lander - Funny stuff, poking fun at an insular overeducated class of people that take themselves way too seriously and thinks they are much cooler than they really are.

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-5989013394446326222008-10-09T11:02:00.000-07:002008-10-09T11:03:02.062-07:00

The Cloister Walk - Kathleen Norris (audiobook) - A series of reflections on living in a monastic community. Illuminating of showing how monks and nuns really live in community, humanizing them without romanticizing their lifestyles.The Shadow and Night - Chris Walley - A rarity, theologically based science fiction that is really well done. A worthy successor to the legacy of Lewis and Tolkien.

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-44074959432518079422008-10-09T11:00:00.000-07:002008-10-09T11:01:50.280-07:00

Born Again and Again: Surprising Gifts of a Fundamentalist Childhood - Jon M. Sweeney - A touching memoir of a Christian who looks back on his upbringing in a Fundamentalist Independent Baptist church, and it's refreshing that he isn't bitter about it. He describes his spiritual journey away from Fundamentalism as he considers a monastic life, but eventually settles in a progressive Episcopalian

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-27134120678819663632008-10-09T10:59:00.000-07:002008-10-09T11:00:17.993-07:00

The Next Christendom - Philip Jenkins - An eye-opening look at the expansion of Christianity in the so-called "Global South" -- the part of the world outside of North America and Europe. It's illuminated to see what is going on in Africa, Asia, and South America, the kind of things we don't see in the news. And it's important to us in our isolated American mindset, and especially to those of us

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-25927442398242213292008-10-09T10:58:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:59:11.763-07:00

The Battle for Vast Dominion - George Bryan Povlika - A fun seafaring adventure series similar to Patrick O'Brien's Master and Commander series. Even though this is marketed as "Christian fiction", it's well-written and worth reading. Unlike most Christian fiction which is concerned with prairie widows and cheesy conversion scenes, theology is tied with the main character, a seminary student

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-20580639626174618762008-10-09T10:57:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:58:01.433-07:00

Winter Tale - Mark Helprin - An excellent work of fiction, with the author's command of language and the imagination to see glimpses of the fantastic and glimpses of a restored Kingdom peeking through cracks in a contemporary cityscape. This is the first Helprin book I've read, and I'm hooked.My Name is Russell Fink - Michael Snyder - Very funny and creative character-driven fiction. I hate using

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-54730931849434037242008-10-09T10:53:00.001-07:002008-10-09T10:57:08.036-07:00

I've decided to do something new on my blog. Well, just anything I post would be new, because I don't post very often. But, what I'm going to do is post my monthly journal of the books I've read so far this year, along with some brief thoughts. So, for January, here goes:January 2008Relentless by Robin Parrish - A pretty good suspense novel, a Heroes/X-men type story. Fast-paced from the word

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-5624685364743592062008-09-22T20:39:00.001-07:002008-09-22T20:39:37.505-07:00

I have recently finished The Lamb Among the Stars trilogy by Chris Walley, and I believe this is an excellent work of faith-based science fiction. It stands with such excellent works as C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy and the Fireberd trilogy by Kathy Tyres. The trilogy consists of three books: The Shadow at Evening. Dark Foundations, and The Infinite Day.This story unfolds ten thousand years in

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-14729126534076926142008-08-28T18:10:00.000-07:002008-08-28T18:14:10.280-07:00

Last November, I took a trip to England and took a lot of photos. And now I'm famous! Well, sort of. And not me, but one of my photos. I recently received an email notifying me that one of the pictures I took in Liverpool has been selected for publication in the Schmap Liverpool Guide! So one of the photos I took with my humble digital camera will show future travellers the beauty of

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-40991895629077997922008-07-12T21:58:00.000-07:002008-07-12T22:03:06.994-07:00

I've gotten around to writing up my post-fest report on attending this year's Cornerstone festival. Five days of music, film, seminars, and assorted weirdness in the middle of northwest Illinois. Always a fun time, between bands, films, seminars, mocha frappucinos, Elephant Ears, and walking the gauntlet of tiny generator-powered stages where screaming bands practice primal scream therapy at

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-60704562279168674782008-07-12T21:46:00.000-07:002008-07-12T21:56:44.263-07:00

Recently I had a chance to visit the Flickerings film festival at this year's Cornerstone Festival. I have been to the Flickering fest each of the past five years, and each year has been excellent with some challenging films and discussions.  The theme of this year's fest was films from the Balkans and about reconciliation, and here are my thoughts on the films I saw:Pretty village, Pretty Flame

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-66250953282084466502008-02-27T20:52:00.000-08:002008-02-27T20:59:47.034-08:00

I have recently finished a very funny novel by an intriguing new writer. The name of the book is "My Name is Russell Fink", and the author is Michael Snyder. It's a creative example of modern character-driven fiction, an odd love story with humor and heart.  It reflects the influences of writers like Douglas Coupland, Nick Hornby, Ray Blackston, and Carl Hiassen. In the novel, Russell is a

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-12066139285679067222008-01-06T16:46:00.000-08:002008-01-06T17:23:56.131-08:00

As a music lover, I have reached into my collections of albums. cassettes and CDs over the years and created collections of favorite songs. When I was in college and hadn’t caught onto the CD craze, I used by dual deck tabletop stereo copy songs onto blank mix tapes. This was a painstaking process involving grabbing the cassette containing the song, inserting it into one side of the cassette

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-85336659844961776752008-01-01T12:57:00.001-08:002008-01-01T13:19:30.282-08:00

It's another New Year's Day. A time for looking forward to new opportunities and the chance to put up the new calendars I got for Christmas. It also means that it's time to look back at the past year and make lists. So here goes with my best of 2007 in music and film. I know there are other things that people make lists of, but I will spare everyone in cyberspace the list of goofy YouTube

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-14832801293674696962007-12-05T21:24:00.000-08:002007-12-05T21:29:57.824-08:00

I finally got a chance to see this. I'll admit I enjoyed the film in the 3D format. Actually, the best part of the evening was seeing the 3D trailers for Coraline, and U23D! But the setting of the film, with the caves and everything, was suited pretty well to the 3D format.The film itself was an interesting train wreck. Even in the midst of some strange artistic choices, I found the struggle of

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-32320431421755679812007-07-19T17:35:00.000-07:002007-07-19T17:39:32.487-07:00

So this weekend the last Harry Potter book comes out. Countless folks will dress up in robes and invade Borders to pick up the book one minute after midnight Friday night. It whould be quite a scene, but I'll do the civilized thing, and pick up a copy on Saturday morning. I am looking forward to reading the book. The series is growing more and more in complexity, to the point that the

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-3466367943258128942007-07-13T13:45:00.000-07:002007-07-13T13:46:02.483-07:00

The next morning, I tore down my tent and packed up my car. As I drove over the grass, prayed I wouldn’t get stuck in the mud, and then cruised down the dirt road out of the site, I reflected back on another fun Cornerstone experience. Then I heard a familiar sound from someone’s car stereo: the Decemberists' song “the Crane Wife.” Wow, that was the same song I was playing on my car stereo when I

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-22969592678175324412007-07-12T21:13:00.000-07:002007-07-13T13:46:27.608-07:00

I must have been beat last night, because I slept later this morning than I’ve ever done at Cornerstone. It was nearly 9:00 by the time I emerged from my tent into the outside air. After a shower and coffee, I was late to the writing seminar, but I took a few notes and wound up learning something about tapping into my well of creativity. This is presumably the same well of creativity that I am

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-78721958043046356502007-07-12T17:45:00.000-07:002007-07-13T13:24:18.974-07:00

Linda! Linda! Linda! That is the name of the morning movie to be screened at Flickerings today. I was promised that this movie about an all-girl Japanese high-school band would make me hum the theme songs for days. In that case, I had better be prepared, so I grab my usual mint frappucino so I’ll stay awake all day and well into the night. Because tonight’s midnight show, The Lost Dogs, will

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-87778843267671286442007-07-12T16:39:00.000-07:002007-07-13T12:59:19.871-07:00

First, some links of cool stuff I participate at Cornerstone when I go:Flickerings Film FestivalThe ImaginariumIt must have been a late night the previous night. I slept all the wayuntil 8:00, which is a full couple of hours after the sun rose. I pokedmy head out of the tent and I looked toward the shower trucks perchedover the lip of the hill and beyond the pizza truck. Would the showersbe

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-89155381288131366482007-07-11T22:15:00.000-07:002007-07-13T12:52:24.075-07:00

Funny thing is when I’m camping, I tend to wake up with the sunlight. Today the sun rose just after 6:00. I lay in my tent for a while, but when I didn’t fall back asleep, I got up and made it an early morning. I walked to the showers, but was greeted by several dry people milling around, holding towels, each of them with confused expressions on their faces. It turns out the showers were

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-87642638551399440112007-07-11T22:12:00.000-07:002007-07-13T14:47:37.638-07:00

It’s a summer tradition for me, making the drive through two-lane roads from St. Louis northward along highway 67 through a familiar stretch of towns: Jacksonville, Beardstown, Rushville, until I reach the small town of Bushnell. But when I pulled through the main gate of the Cornerstone music festival for the eleventh time, and saw the same dusty dirt roads, the acres of tents, the rows of

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1170044780288857582007-01-28T20:25:00.000-08:002007-01-28T20:26:20.300-08:00

I recently saw a fascinating film called Pan's Labyrinth. It's a dark fantasy directed by a Mexican director named Guillermo Del Toro. The film is set in the early 1940s, during the time of the Spanish Civil War. A twelve-year-old girl has a father who is a cruel war leader who tortures his prisoners. Her mother is sick with a disease, and the mother and daughter live in a camp established by

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1167609386128394922006-12-31T15:55:00.000-08:002006-12-31T15:56:26.146-08:00

Best of 2006It’s the end of the year, time for all the best-of lists. I’m a junkie for reading those things and for making lists. I don’t know why. Top 10 FilmsI’m a film buff. I try to catch quite a few films each year in the theaters. I’m fortunate, living in St. Louis, that we have some good art-house theaters, so I can catch interesting independent films, and am not just limited to

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1167349759900713162006-12-28T15:46:00.000-08:002006-12-28T15:50:01.220-08:00

It's tricky writing satire for the Christian market, particularly a satire of the Christian subculture itself. But Ray Blackston does an admirable job here. It's more of an absurdist tale in the style of Dave Barry rather than the cutting satire of a Stephen Colbert or a Lewis Black. This novel takes place after a kind of "reverse rapture". Except in this case, it's the non-believers who

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1166586529703967432006-12-19T19:47:00.000-08:002006-12-19T19:50:38.416-08:00

This is the first book of an intriguing Christian fantasy series of novels by Kathryn Mackel. This is the first of her books I have read, and I am impressed with her imagination. She creates a world that is intriguing and shows definite parallels with a creation fallen from its original beauty due to the curse of sin. She also shows the hope of restoration of the creation by the valiant acts

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1166227004001198502006-12-15T15:53:00.000-08:002006-12-15T15:57:39.613-08:00

Here's a lovely Christmas song, "O Come All Ye Faithful", as performed by a famous wandering minstrel band called Twisted Sister. OK, so I'm totally a child of the 1980s, and I've banged my head a few too many times, but it's the season of giving and good cheer, so here you go. Just watch what you're putting in your eggnog. haha.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqfuBCbm8-Q

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1166075642239186972006-12-13T21:52:00.000-08:002006-12-13T21:55:48.856-08:00

I've found a couple links of people with interesting talent. First, may I present to you the Boston Typewriter Orchestra. They make music with, uh, typewriters! These are the old-fashioned manual kind, not those fancy-schmancy word processors. Just to operate one of those takes some strong fingers, and to make music is, really cool in a geeky sort of way. Check out the link:Boston Typewriter

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1164951118143071472006-11-30T21:24:00.000-08:002006-11-30T21:31:58.163-08:00

It's the end of November, and yes, I did write 50,000 words for Nanowrimo! It's a new draft of a novel I started last year. This time around, I concentrated more on character development rather than plot, for which I worked out a basic outline. The novel is a humorous look about a preacher's kid who backslides from his faith when he goes to college, and he falls in with a crowd of cynical

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1164143774969108282006-11-21T13:12:00.000-08:002006-11-21T13:16:39.756-08:00

This November, I had a chance to see some films in the St. Louis International Film Festival, which was held from November 9th through the 19th. I can say I enjoyed it a great deal. I didn't get a chance to catch some of the films I originally intended to see, but I caught five very good ones and a collection of shorts as well. Here is my post-fest report, some thoughts about these films:Son of

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1163223642325522722006-11-10T21:36:00.000-08:002006-11-10T21:40:42.346-08:00

I have been busy this month with Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month. This is when a bunch of insane wanna-be writers try to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. I did it last year, 54,000 words. It wasn't quite a complete novel, but this year, I'm rewriting and rethinking my novel idea from last year. Hopefully it will be better this year, and an at least mildly amusing humorous work.

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1162271530415566652006-10-30T21:09:00.000-08:002006-10-30T21:12:10.426-08:00

The Cardinals are World Champs! World Series winners! Numero Uno! The best baseball team in the world! World Champs! World Champs! World Champs! World Champs! World Champs! World Champs! OK, I just needed to say that. I can get back to normal now.

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1161837342223530362006-10-25T21:34:00.000-07:002006-10-25T21:38:05.750-07:00

I have a strange fascination for college mascots. In the novel I am working on, the main character is a college student who moonlights in a dog suit as the Fighting Rottweiler for the fictional Eastern Missouri University. I've never dressed up in fake fur of any kind myself. But, I admire anyone that can allow themselves to get swallowed up in an alternate identity and try to dance in

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1161734281849510412006-10-24T16:56:00.000-07:002006-10-24T16:59:35.313-07:00

A friend of mine who I know from many evenings hanging out at Starbucks, Max Daves, has podcasts at his website. He discusses God, society, making a difference in the world, you know, the small stuff. Anyway, he has some fascinating insights, so check it out here:Max in the Middle

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1161139825776175242006-10-17T18:49:00.000-07:002006-10-17T19:50:25.836-07:00

This is a gripping documentary about a Pentecoastal children's camp held each summer in rural North Dakota. Instead of camping, fishing, or swapping ghost stories, these children, in the age range of 8-12, are taught the Bible, are gathered in nightly prayer meetings, and encouraged to move in what Charismatic Christians call "the gifts of the Spirit". These consist of "speaking in tounges",

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1161135359623041952006-10-17T18:20:00.000-07:002006-10-17T18:36:11.140-07:00

This is an independent film starring Ryan Gosling as an inner city teacher who balances his desire to help the kids he's teaching with his own cocaine addiction. I thought this was a really smart film. One reason is because it turns the cliche of the inner city-teacher/student relationship on its head. Here it is the teacher who is struggling, and he turns to a friendship with a student for

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1160690137324317462006-10-12T14:54:00.000-07:002006-10-12T14:55:37.336-07:00

I saw this film on video last night since the Cardinals game got rained out. This is one of those films featuring multiple storylines of adults and their relationships, ala a Robert Altman film or Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. In this case, this film involves adult New Yorkers and takes place in the year immediately following 9/11. The tragedy is not specifically mentioned in the film, but

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1160448322818268242006-10-09T19:43:00.000-07:002006-10-09T19:45:22.836-07:00

I recently read this book and I liked it a lot. It's near-future science fiction novel concerning a manned American mission to Mars in the year 2014. A four person crew is aboard: two men and two women. The main person, Valerie (nicknamed Valkyrie because that's cool in a geeky kind of way) is a biologist who is recently added to the team going to Mars. She feels anxiety over whether she is

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1160168383040739972006-10-06T13:58:00.000-07:002006-10-06T13:59:49.840-07:00

So now I'm going to get to some films I have seen. I'll also blog about books I read, but I see more films than I read books. :)To begin with, what can I say about the latest film by director Michel Gondry, the genius behind numerous inventive White Strips and Bjork music videos and the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind? A movie wonderland? A sugar rush of a fil? The most creative

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1160022202529219842006-10-04T21:22:00.000-07:002006-10-04T21:23:22.540-07:00

I think it's high time I get this blog started again.So here I am.

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1135896571314078932005-12-29T14:48:00.000-08:002005-12-29T14:49:31.326-08:00

As part of my Christmas booty this year, I got some DVDs. One of them is a very cool TV series called Long Way Round. It's the story of Ewan McGregor and a friend of his. They decided to ride motorcycles around the world, starting in London, going east through Europe and Asia, then fly from the northeastern end of Russia into Alaska, and then ride through Canada and the United States into New

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1134512787134577692005-12-13T14:19:00.000-08:002005-12-13T14:28:02.443-08:00

Now that the Christmas season is upon us, it's time to find unique and interesting gifts for the people you love. Of course, I have a weird sense of humor, so I like to scour cyberspace for gifts that are unusual, odd, or in questionable taste. :)First, I must thank Dave Barry for this first suggestion: Rubber duckies with the heads of the members of the rock band KISS! Shout it out loud, indeed!

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1133306204818913362005-11-29T15:14:00.000-08:002005-11-29T15:16:44.830-08:00

My impressions of SLIFF 2005This year's version of the St. Louis International Film Festival ran from November 10th through the 20th, and featured more than a hundred films from all over the world. This is the first year I have attended the festival. Since I was trying to do the Nanowrimo project at the same time, I didn't get a chance to see too many films, but I did see three that were quite

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1121222885845085252005-07-12T21:43:00.000-07:002005-07-12T19:48:05.856-07:00

My recap of the FLICKERINGS Film Festival 2005-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Over the Fourth of July weekend this year, I had the chance to spend five days on a farm in the middle of cornfields in Western Illinois. Yes, this is the time for the annual Cornerstone Festival, where 30,000 people descend on this

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1119038852694488532005-06-17T13:06:00.000-07:002005-06-17T13:07:32.700-07:00

I saw the new Batman movie, Batman Begins, and loved it. I give it 4 star rating. This is the first true Batman film! The film had a dark gritty look, yet it was real, too. The shots of Gotham were clear and striking. And I thought the scenes with the bats flying around were done quite well too. The cast is to die for, and everyone delivered quite well, even Katie Holmes, though seeing her

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1115430789713552362005-05-06T20:52:00.000-07:002005-05-06T18:53:09.720-07:00

Summary of three concerts I have seen over the last few weeks. It sohappens that these are all indie bands more keyboard-driven thanguitar-driven. I find it a nice change of pace, guitar can all sound the sameafter a while.Dresden Dolls- An interesting goth-cabaret band, consisting of a girl on piano and a guyon drums, both dressed rather oddly. The girl on piano was the singer, andshe

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1115095926042075292005-05-02T23:50:00.000-07:002005-05-02T21:52:06.043-07:00

One thing I don't understand about coffee shopsCoffee is full of caffeine. You drink it and it wakes you up, gets you moving.Yet when I go to coffee shops, everyone I see is seated.OK, that's enough deep thoughts for me tonight. :)

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1114811336169323852005-04-29T14:47:00.000-07:002005-04-29T14:48:56.173-07:00

OK. I'm going to try to start my blog once again, and post on it at least occasionally. I'll see I can keep this up longer than the blog I tried to start last year. :)To start with, I'll blog about a really cool documentary I saw last night:Dust to Glory -A documentary about the Baja 1000, the world's most famous off-road race, run annually from the north end to the south end of the Baja

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1112074036649778202005-03-28T21:25:00.000-08:002005-03-28T21:27:16.650-08:00

Wow, this weekend featured some incredible basketball games in the NCAA tournament, the Elite Eight. Three of the four games on Saturday and Sunday went into overtime. I didn't know too much about the teams going into the tournament, except for Illinois, given their extensive coverage on local sports stations. However, the teams in the Final Four have all shown quite a bit of heart. That

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1111640167071536692005-03-23T20:55:00.000-08:002005-03-23T20:56:07.073-08:00

Thoughts on reviewing the Passion of the ChristLast night I watched the Passion of the Christ again on DVD, since it isHoly Week. This is the first time I have seen the film since seeing it in apacked theater the first night of it's release last February 25th. I wantedto see it fresh, free of the hype and the controversy. I wanted to see thestory, or Christ's last 12 hours before his

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1111513181601647522005-03-22T09:38:00.000-08:002005-03-22T09:39:41.603-08:00

Hello, it's me again. It sure has been a long time since I've posted here. I just wanted to make sure I'm still here. OK, I think I am. I think I'll try to post some more deep thoughts here, at least occasionally.

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1081221946743740412004-04-05T20:24:00.000-07:002004-04-05T20:29:31.420-07:00

I saw an interesting film yesterday, called “Good-bye Lenin”. It’s a German film. It concerns a family living in East Berlin just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. After the father left ten years before, a dedicated mother raises a son and a daughter, while becoming a dedicated volunteer for causes relating to the Communist Party. However, she suffers a heart attack, and is in a coma for

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1079414581596761832004-03-15T21:04:00.000-08:002004-03-15T21:26:17.576-08:00

One thing I've always been a fan of is obscure sports. I played Ultimate Frisbee for five years with a club team in Augusta, Georgia. I play frisbee golf once in a while. And I like bicycling. This weekend I attended a bicycle race, put on by an organization I am a part of, the International Christian Cycling Club. The race was held in a local park, Sylvan Springs Park here in St. Louis.

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1078983028879149782004-03-10T21:22:00.000-08:002004-03-10T21:33:38.060-08:00

Go see this movie! http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thelostskeletonofcadavra The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra This is a hilarious parody of cheesy low-budget '50s sci-fi horror movies. It captures perfectly what made these movies so painful to watch, the terrible dialogue and the cheap home-made special effects, and has a lot of fun by overdoing it to the point of cringe-worthy hilarity. Anyone

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1078807431848679422004-03-08T20:37:00.000-08:002004-03-08T20:47:36.390-08:00

It's been a while since I've last posted here. I've got some catching up to do. I saw a really good movie a week or two ago, called Touching the Void. It’s a true story of two mountain climbers who climb a mountain in the Himalayas that no one else has ever climbed. However, on the way down, one of them falls into a crevice. His partner, thinking the other one is dead, goes back without him.

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1077859331973754482004-02-26T21:21:00.000-08:002004-02-26T21:25:03.263-08:00

Well, I saw the movie last night that everyone' s talking about. "The Passion of the Christ". I have to admit, I was very curious to see this movie, since it's been talked about for more then a year now. Soooooooooo, what did I think? I will say, I was quite familiar with the story of the Passion of Christ, having grown up in church. I knew going in that the movie will be violent, seeing

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1077772553876048512004-02-25T21:07:00.000-08:002004-02-25T21:18:43.890-08:00

Catching up on some things I have done since I have last posted (which has been too long) As far as movies go, it seems to be the season of documentaries. I saw "The Weather Underground" and "Spellbound" a couple of weeks ago, both very interesting documentaries, real-life character studies more absorbing than in most scripted movies. Spellbound showed kids competing at the National Spelling

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1076985612140149602004-02-16T17:49:00.000-08:002004-02-16T18:42:49.326-08:00

I finally got my notebook back this weekend, the one that has all the notes I've been making for my novel, and my sort-of-daytimer. It also had the notes I was going to make for my list of my 10 favorite movies of the past year. So, sort of late, here is my 10 favorite movies of 2003. Note: I'm not a professional movie reviewer, but I play one on television. OK, maybe not that either, so

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1076227906822212132004-02-08T00:07:00.000-08:002004-02-08T00:14:12.233-08:00

An addendum to the note I posted yesterday about The Triplets of Belleville. Before the movie, a short film was shown, called Destino. It was a colloberation between Salvador Dali and Walt Disney that was begun in 1946, but never finished due to financial problems. The old prints that were created back then have been dug up by Disney now, and with the help of modern animators and compter

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1076227301591942292004-02-07T23:52:00.001-08:002004-02-08T00:04:07.140-08:00

I finally have a web page! It's very primitive right now, none of those fancy colors or backgrounds, with flying toasters and such, but, I have a presence on the Net. Now I just have to make it look halfway decent so other people may want to look at it, and be somewhat impressed with my coding skills. After all, I am a computer programmer, I type code all day long at work. :) Tonight I went

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1076227162709677892004-02-07T23:52:00.000-08:002004-02-08T00:01:47.450-08:00

I finally have a web page! It's very primitive right now, none of those fancy colors or backgrounds, with flying toasters and such, but, I have a presence on the Net. Now I just have to make it look halfway decent so other people may want to look at it, and not think I can't code something brilliant. After all, I am a computer programmer. :) Tonight I went to dinner with some friends, and

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1076183590695309912004-02-07T11:50:00.000-08:002004-02-07T11:55:34.843-08:00

Here are some links that I found that are quite fun (and they're not about movies) :) A map of all the countries I have ever visited. create your own visited country map This is courtesy of church Missions trips to Mexico (in 1993) and Russia (in 1994), and my vacation to the United Kingdom in 2000. There is also a visited states map, too. create your own visited states map

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1076139228458844362004-02-06T23:24:00.000-08:002004-02-06T23:36:12.293-08:00

OK, I haven't updated my blog in a while, so I'll type this while Jonatha Brooke sings on Carson Daly's talk show. Oh, this is a good song, called "Better After All". I'll definitely have to get her new album. I was going to post a list of my ten favorite movies from last year. I made notes in my notebook, but I left it in a friend's car after coming back from a church retreat a couple of

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1074663869471716252004-01-20T21:39:00.000-08:002004-01-20T21:46:29.733-08:00

Last night I saw the Lord of the Rings movie, The Return of the King again. It was the second time, and I was again blown away purely by the scope of the movie, especially the battle scenes. To see thousands of soldiers gathered on that large plain, that was amazing. My favorite was when the armies of Aragorn were completely surrounded, when you could see that circle of soldiers, exploding out

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6331684.post-1074126784690926512004-01-14T16:26:00.000-08:002004-01-14T16:34:56.450-08:00

So, this is my blog. Welcome to the Juice Bar! What will I have here? I suppose random thoughts, mini-essays, movie reviews, etc, etc. Hopefully, I will occasionally post something intelligent. But, don't get your hopes up too much. :) Whatever happens, it will be a lot of fun!

Jim Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343932844347769679noreply@blogger.com0