MOVIE REVIEW: The Secret of Moonacre

 

After having been orphaned, Maria and her nanny come to live with her uncle in Moonacre Valley. While learning about her new home, Maria discovers that she is the only one who can bring two feuding families together and save the magical place she has come to love.

This is based loosely on the novel The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. Though the characters have been somewhat changed to reflect a more modern audience, this is still a completely engaging and well done story about love and loyalty, and how things like pride and greed can get in the way of happiness. This is an excellent movie for family viewing. 

BOOK REVIEW: Intensity by Dean Koontz

 

Chyna Shepherd is a college student who is also an abuse survivor, having grown up with a mother addicted to both drugs and violence. While visiting a friend's family for a weekend, she finds herself in the middle of a nightmare when a serial killer invades the home and kills everyone but Chyna. While attempting to save herself, Chyna hears the killer talking about a girl he has imprisoned in his basement, and decides to make sure this maniac doesn't get the chance for another victim.

This is a novel that is very hard not to read in one sitting. The action is intense, the suspense never stops, and the main characters are completely engaging. The heroine is strong, determined, and unstoppable. The villain is the essence of evil and totally menacing. This one will definitely be an all-nighter, so be prepared.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Thing 2011

 

A woman paleontologist is asked to come to Antarctica to examine the remains of a creature found frozen next to what appears to be a space ship. Upon analyzing it, she discovers that it is an alien life form that can replicate whatever it kills, including humans. How can you destroy a creature when you don't know who among your comrades is a monster?

For those who know and loved the 1982 version of this story, this is a prequel to that. The special effects are quite good and there is a lot of action and surprises. In keeping with the times, the main character is a female. A scientist who seems to be the only one who can figure out anything, though there are two male doctors who are supposed to be the leaders of the expedition. The problem I had with this was, having seen the previous film and therefore knowing the fate of all the participants, it was kind of hard to watch all the effort go into what was a foregone conclusion. But, for those who don't know that destiny, this is a good horror prize.

BOOK REVIEW: Germination by Jamie Thornton

 

Mary is a 17-year-old runaway more interested in surviving on the streets than in listening to the rumors of monsters that have been floating around in the news. But, when she and one of her friends are attacked by a man carrying a human heart, and a drop of his blood flies into her eye, Mary finds out that the monsters are not only real, but she is becoming one. Now she has to run, not only from those who would imprison and experiment on her, but from her own friends as she struggles to maintain her humanity.

This is a novella that opens a series telling the story of its characters from the pint of view of the monsters. It is well written, easy to read, and with engaging personalities. A wonderful beginning to what we hope will be a great and unique series.

MOVIE REVIEW: 2149: The Aftermath

 

Taking place after World War III, this follows a young man who, having spent the last nine years of his life isolated in a survival pod, is forced to come out when the computer he relies on is shorted out by a lightning strike. Once outside, he finds a small group of people who are living in a nearby forest. They reteach him how to communicate, and he discovers that the world is not what he had been led to believe.

Originally released under the title "Darwin," this is from an independent studio in Canada. It is low key with no strong language, no erotic scenes, and no violence. Only a very creepy psychological take on what can happen when technology begins owning us and not the other way around.

THE COMING NEW CLIMATE: An Opinion

 

Many studies have been done into climate change, resulting in calls going out for governments and economists to take action before it is too late. However, a further look at the Earth's climate history tells us that change is very much part of our planet's ecology.

Paleoclimatogy has revealed that natural occurrences such as volcanic activity and the elliptical orbit of the planet around the sun can have an effect on how much warmth and light is received, thus either heating or cooling the surface exponentially through what is called feedback loops. Less warmth and the oceans and land freezes, trapping carbon dioxide (C02), methane and water vapor. More warmth and the ice melts, releasing these gases. When C02 and methane are released, they act as amplifiers of warming by shielding the ground and not allowing the heat to dissipate. This is why emissions of these gases are frowned upon by ecologists.

However, history also teaches that climate change is very much a part of the natural function of our planet. Man is a fairly new species to this world, but even before his appearance paleoclimatology has found evidence that climate shifts, brought on by everything from large meteors to increased vulcanism, were responsible for the extinction of millions of forms of life, including the dinosaurs. After humans were on the scene, climate change was responsible for the collapse of ancient civilizations such as the Old Kingdom of Egypt and the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, probably through crop failures. Even in the current era there have been climate shifts, including one called the Little Ice Age that began as early as the 13th century and lasted four to five hundred years, causing a two year famine in Europe at its height.

Since then, humans have dumped enough C02 into the atmosphere to warm three planets, and another climate shift is upon us. What man has done is and will make the problem worse, but even a radical change in our technology and habits will not stop it, for climate change is a natural part of our planet's ecology. And so the problem becomes, not whether we can stop it (which we can't), but if we can adapt to a new climate on this world. All species need to adapt in order to survive, and we are no exception. Through our own stupidity and negligence, we have shortened the amount of time we would normally have for this adaptation, but that does not change the fact that it must be done.

Remember that climate change has caused some of the worst catastrophes on our planet and wiped out many forms of life, including human civilizations. The process was obviously painful for those effected, and it will undoubtedly be the same for us. But, instead of deluding ourselves into believing that we can flip a switch on some power plant somewhere and everything will just go back to the way it was, we need to start planning and researching for the coming new world. This will mean changes not only in our energy production and transportation options, but also how we produce our food and obtain our water. Because change is coming and we are going to have to deal with it, whether we want to or not. And if, through our own stubborn pride, we refuse to accept this, we will be condemning ourselves, as a species, to the fate that awaits all that cannot adapt. Extinction.

OUR STANCE ON TODAY'S ISSUES: RACISM

Today's news is full of protests and hatred against those who use skin color as an excuse to belittle others. We at Children of Father God and Mother Earth believe that racism is a social construct, created by man, to use as a tool to control those that may be, for whatever reason, feared. When two different cultures are brought together, whether by coincidence or by force, there is always a certain amount of fear and suspicion on both sides. If someone does things differently from what you have been taught all your life is right, you immediately think of this difference as something that you are not sure you can trust. And, hence, you have trouble trusting the person or people that are doing these different things. This is simply human nature. To use these differences as ammunition for labels that lead to abuse, neglect, and violence is racism. Therefore, racism is not based on hatred, it is based on fear. However, we believe that, as thinking, intelligent individuals, we can choose to put aside this fear and mistrust in favor of acceptance and respect. This does not mean that we have to adopt the customs of those that we have been introduced to (unless we want to). It is simply that we recognize that they have the right to live in the way that they find appropriate for them, as long as they are not harming themselves or anyone else.

Many great leaders in history faced racism. Jesus was raised in a time when the country of Israel was divided by another, smaller country named Samaria. The Samaritans were, as far as the Israelites were concerned, the lowest of the low, because they had fallen from the pure faith of Judaism by intermarrying with the people who had conquered them many years before. This racism was based on history and political decisions rather than skin color. But, Jesus went to Samaria and brought his teachings there through a woman he met at a well, showing that love is meant for all humankind, regardless of circumstances. It also shows that, no matter what background, skin tone, or lifestyle choices, all people deserve to be loved and respected. This is what we also believe.

Gene Roddenberry, the man who created the series Star Trek, once said, "If we do not learn to take a postive delight in the differences of those here on this world, we do not deserve to go out into the galaxy and meet with the diversity we will surely find out there." Racism is a term used to describe the unwillingness to accept differences within our own kind. If we are to survive as a species, if we are to grow up enough to find our way out of this kindergarten we have been brought up in, we need to begin to accept all of humanity for its diversity as well as its conformity. After all, when you go all the way back to the beginning of creation, we are, all of us, made from the same stardust.